Wedded Bliss
by Mastermind Sphinx
Summary: Youji x Aya. Twisted humor, fluff, OOC, lime, and a very lame plot. Oddly enough, my most popular fic. If you like a good. . . Well, mediocre comical mystery, then enjoy!
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Yes, this fic was posted here well over a year ago under my account of StaceS. My account was deleted a while ago because I broke the naughty content rule oops so I'm reposting something, and writing new ones under the name mastermindsphinx.

This is essentially the same as when it was first uploaded but I've gone though and fixed glaring errors. I'm not pleased with my switching tenses back and forth kicks 16 year old high school self who first wrote it but to fix that completely I'd nearly have to rewrite it and I don't want to.

I hope that if you've read it before that you may enjoy it again, and please don't give away the ending to any new readers that it might have! Thanks for reading.

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Prologue

Youji

I've never had a problem with gay people, not in the least. For one it meant less competition for me, not that there's really any competition anyway. Aside from that though who am I to judge others? I who lies to the world by being a florist during the day and then as soon as the garage like door is lowered upon the Koneko, I'm an assassin. . . No, I don't have any problems with homosexuality.

. . . At least I didn't. However, when I started having those feelings myself, well. . . That's an entirely different story.

I never _meant _to be attracted to the cold bastard. . . But damn, men shouldn't be allowed to be so pretty. When Persia had first sent us his files, I had thought he **was **a girl. . . The picture was fuzzy all right! Besides Aya is a woman's name. . . It was an honest mistake and I didn't let it get to me, but when we finally met him, I was still attracted to him! Despite the fact that it was pretty damn obvious that he was no woman.

Luckily for me he has a personality so rotten that it could make your teeth fall out. He's cold, arrogant, apathetic, cruel, a bastard. . . Nevertheless, after a while that makes for an utterly irresistible enigma! I feel like one of the stupid schoolgirls that infest our shop, being allured by the mystery of our leader.

So for years I've put up with this ever-residing crush, trying to push it far away in the recess of my mind with the hopes that if it were left long forgotten that it would never come back. . . All us Weiß' fingers and toes combined wouldn't be enough to count on all the women I've made a show of dating in front of Aya, making sure that he knew damn well I was 100% grade A heterosexual meat. . . Not that he'd ever given me a reason to assume that he was interested. But I just couldn't take that chance. For if he was ever to come on to me. . . Well I can't say in good faith that I'd turn him down.

****

Aya

I think that I fell in lust at first site when I met him. . . Then he opened his big mouth. Youji, he is the most perverted florist/assassin that you could ever hope to meet. Seriously, who divulges their entire sexual history within the first hour of meeting you? Not sane people that's for sure. . . Then again, I'm not particularly _sane _either.

The thing about it though is before Aya-chan's accident my sexual prowess had been near equal to the hentai's, just with a lot less people, people that I was at the very least _acquainted_ with. . . I had just never made a grand showing of it seeing as it was none of their damned business. . Besides that, my experience wasn't with women.

No one in Weiß knew of that though; I didn't see the point in saying anything seeing as they knew practically nothing about me anyway. I made a particular point in not letting Youji know. Honestly, I doubt he could even grasp the concept of gay. If he knew, he'd either tease me to the point that I'd murder him, or he'd drag me to those horrible clubs that he enjoys so much in an attempt to _reform_ me. Neither option sounded terribly appealing.

Still, despite the fact that he gets on my nerves more than both Ken and Omi combined. . . I harbored a little weakness for him. It's hard not to. Not only is he gorgeous, and well aware of it, but his personality is both loathable and loveable at the same time.

Luckily, I have too much on my mind to be worried about juvenile things such as crushes and jealousy. . . For the most part.


	2. Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

****

Youji

"Those legs belong to Manx!" I stated with a smile then added mentally: _No one else lacks the fashion sense that she does. Socks with high heels?_

"You're really something Youji," she teased as she pushed past me to head down to the screening room below the Koneko, the one that no one aside from Weiß and other underlings of Persia knew about.

"What can I say? It's a gift." Flirtatiously I caught up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as we headed down. I knew that I had no chance with the older secretary. To be honest I wasn't sure that I really wanted one. . . But that was half the fun of it.

****

Aya

From the bottom of the stairwell, I watched the bright screen illuminate the dark room in a wave of haunting blue. Everyone else seemed to cuddle up on the couch as if it was Titanic, not a mission dispatch. These matters should be taken seriously. . . Moreover, I didn't want to have to be so close to the pervert. Especially when he went into womanizing mode.

"WEIß, THERE HAS BEEN A STRING OF MURDERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF KYOTO." Upon the screen the brutal police shots of the poor victims corpses flashed lazily by like the screen saver on a computer. "ALL OF THE VICTIMS HAVE BEEN HOMOSEXUAL MALES. WE HAVE TRACED THE SUSPECT TO AN EMPLOYEE OF THE HOSHIKO HOTEL. NO MORE IS KNOWN. . .WEIß HUNTERS OF THE LIGHT. DENY THESE DARK BEASTS THEIR TOMORROWS."

"So we just go find a serial killer? Sounds easy enough." Youji smugly sank back down into the couch.

"Two of us have to pose as a homosexual couple." I stated it blandly enough, but inside my heart was racing. Although my major weakness was Aya-chan, this subject hit too close to home for comfort. . . It could also bring about slurs from my teammates that I simply did not want to hear, and if I did, God knows what I'd do. At best, I'd let my secret be known, at worst, I'd kill Youji.

"Huh?!" The pathetic noise of confusion drew me out of my thoughts.

"Aya is right."

__

Thank you Manx I mentally sighed.

"All of the victims were homosexual male couples who'd been staying at the Hoshiko Hotel in Kyoto. Two of you will have to pose as a couple and stay there for a week or so, maybe less depending upon how fast the killer works." Manx finished. The '_you're a womanizing bastard and I'm going to take pleasure in seeing you accept this mission' _look that she gave Youji was priceless.

"Omi is out for this one," she said. "You three fight over-"

"NOT ME!" Ken shouted with a deep blush.

"Hey! You little brat, I'm not doing it! Youji Kudou doesn't _do_ gay."

"I accept," I blandly stated. I figured if Youji and Ken went it alone they would both die. Whether at each other's hands or the culprit's, one cannot be certain.

"Aya. . ." The look that Youji gave me was confusing, but I paid him no mind. "Alright. . . Ken would just screw it up anyway." His readiness to accept the job came as an utter shock to me. . . Really, there wasn't even three seconds hesitation?. . . The bastard must be hard up for money right now, I resolved internally, needing a reasonable explanation as to why the definition of **straight** was so willingly going along with this controversial mission.

"Great, you leave tomorrow," Manx smiled, in a slightly evil manner.

"But wait, Manx. . ." Youji's voice sounded a little timid. "How are they supposed to know that we're gay?"

"You make a big showing of it. Holding hands, PDAs, preying on little boys in the bathroom. . . whatever gets attention."

****

Youji

"PDAs! You've got to be kidding me!" I've heard of those _both a blessing and a curse _things before but I never thought that they were real! On one hand, I get to make out with the subject of my desires without him knowing that I actually like it, and on the other hand. . . I get to make out with the subject of my desires without him knowing that I actually like it. . .

The dejected look on my face must have been pretty damn pathetic because both Omi and Ken were giggling like the little idiots that they are. Why, oh why God had I agreed to this?!?!

"Urusai! This isn't funny! It's a mission, a very **serious **matter."

"Sure Yo-tan. . . snicker don't worry. You look cuter with Aya then Ken does anyway." Omi's smile looked like it was about to burst, if he didn't out rightly crack up soon.

"Baka. . ." Well there really wasn't anything that I could do about it now. Looking like a man on death row, I sighed and began to ascend the stairs, each one seemingly more difficult than the one before it.

"Youji." I looked over to see Manx at my side. "If it really seems all that difficult, you could always _practice_ now."

That little-! And here I thought she was going to help me, but _noooo_. All she could do was tease me like the other two. . .Why wasn't Aya catching any flak for this?

"Why don't you just tease Aya!"

"One, he headed up to his room as soon as he agreed to the mission so no one had a chance. Two, he'd kill me. Three, he's gay so it just wouldn't be funny." With that, the red head just turned and exited, leaving me there with my mouth agape, jaw coming impossibly close to the floor.

Aya. . . was. . .gay? I had thought that the indifference to the girls in the shop was just his stoic nature. He'd told that Sakura girl that he could never love her because he couldn't love anyone. . . What a load of crap, it's because he's gay!. . . That means, I actually have a chance with him!

Kicking my self I muttered, "baka" aloud. Youji Kudou, certified ladies' man, doesn't _have chances_ with people. They _have chances_ with him. . . Still I was shocked, happy, and angry about this secret. Did Manx figure we all knew? Well I knew now and I should've known a long time ago.

Heading up to the apartment my head was filled with thoughts. I needed to talk to Aya before we left tomorrow. . . I just didn't have the slightest idea as to what I should say.

****

Aya

__

God dammit, I mentally cursed as I threw a shirt somewhat violently into my suitcase. Manx and Persia were both well aware of my _preferences_, why'd they have to go and choose a mission like this for us? And with Youji! . . I could have put up with Ken, or Omi had he not been underage. . . But Youji? I could already tell that he was going to be so damn smug about this. Figuring that since he was God's gift to women that men would feel the same way. . .

Damn if only I didn't feel so strongly for him. This pretending could get hard. . . literally. I'm not so sure that I can do this anymore. . . How can I just pretend to have feelings for someone that I really **do **have feelings for?

Suddenly, there was a knocking at my door. "What?" I asked icily.

"It's me," a familiar voice purred in an unconsciously sexy tone.

"Come in," was my conceded sigh. Not even bothering to turn around I continued packing. As I heard the door open then lightly close once more, I asked: "What do you want."

"Aya, why didn't you tell me you were gay?" The king of bluntness. . . When I didn't out rightly answer, he put in: "Manx told me. . . Ken and Omi don't know. Don't worry your secrets safe with me."

Turning and giving him a glower was all the response I really cared to give. So he knew, well that was just great. Thank you Manx. . . "Does that bother you?" My words were a little too harshly spoken, more of a challenge than a question really, but sometimes you have to be that way, to protect yourself.

"N-no, no need to get defensive. Don't get me wrong Aya-kun. It's just that I've known you for almost two years now and I figured that I should've known that by now."

"There's a lot you don't know about me." That was the truth.

Without invitation he plopped himself gracelessly down upon my bed, propping himself up on his elbows as he gave me an intent gaze. "So what's it like?" He finally asked, I could tell he's been wondering for a while, well for as long as he'd known. . .

"What's _what_ like?"

"Being gay?" When I didn't answer he goaded me on. "Oh come on Aya, we're friends here. Consider it preparing for the mission. Sex gods like me aren't really versed in that sort of _thing._"

"_Thing_?" I queried, my vocal tone not changing but I'm sure that he sensed a slightly offended residing anger.

"Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it like that. Seriously, I need to know."

"Love is love," my answer was plain as I folded another sweater and shoved it into the bag. Kyoto was rather chilly this time of year and I had no idea how long we'd be forced to stay there.

My answer earned me a little snicker. Glancing harshly at the idiot didn't bring the abrupt end to laughter that it usually granted me. "I'm sorry Aya. . . I just, it's hard to imagine you being in love."

Youji was seriously beginning to piss me off with his assumptions. Walking up to where he was reclined I rather roughly grabbed a fistful of his flaxen locks, drawing his head back so that he was forced to meet my stare. He flinched slightly in pain but didn't resist. My words were whispered lowly with ice, but they were perfectly coherent.

"I'm more proficient at sex than you could ever dream to be, have had my name screamed more times in pleasure than you doubled. Hn, the whores you pick up probably don't even know your name and are too drunk to care. . . A real _master_ doesn't have to brag of his triumphs, they speak for themselves when the time is right."

With that, I let go of his hair roughly and calmly continued about my business of packing.

****

Youji

Aya's had sex? Well he's twenty, one should hope so by that age. . . And if his words were true, and they probably were seeing as he's never given me reason to doubt him before, he was **good** at it?. . . Why was it so difficult for me to grasp that?. . . Most likely because sex was fun and it involved strong positive emotions, neither of which had I ever witnessed the younger assassin express.

"Aya, I'm. . . stunned."

"Hn."

"Have you ever. . . Had sex with a woman?" This could get interesting. As much fun as it was telling all the other Weiß boys about my exploits, I never really was let in on anyone else's.

"Have you ever had sex with a man?"

"Don't answer a question with a question!. . . And no, of course not." Not that I really minded the notion. Knowing that Aya'd done it before was making me warm up to the idea more and more by the minute. According to his little tirade, he's even better than I am. . . I'd like to meet my match.

"There's your answer."

". . . Wanna practice?" I invited nervously. I hoped that my anxiety hadn't carried over into my come on.

"Practice what?" His icy glare bored holes into me. I loved his beautiful eyes, but God dammit I hated that look!

"For the mission!"

"I don't need any practice; I know how to be gay."

"Well I don't!" I insisted as I stood to walk to his side.

"Hn, the playboy is asking for my help in the sexual department. You must be getting pretty desperate." Oh, I could just smack the smug look off his face! The little bastard was enjoying this, beating me at my own game.

"Oh come on Aya, what do you want me to do? Beg?"

With a sigh he turned back to me, his glare had softened at my plea. "Fine. For the mission. . .What do you need to practice?"

"Everything! Like I'll have to hold your hand, hug you, kiss you. . ."

"As hard as this might be for your small mind to grasp, the mechanics of kissing don't change with gender."

His cockiness was getting frustrating. I could've handled iciness but this mockery was something that I'd never seen Aya express before. . . "Prove it then!" With that, I pulled him up against me and pressed my lips roughly to his. They were soft and moist, flavorless without the greasy lip-gloss that girls just assume men like. I urged his lips apart with my tongue, needing to see for myself what it was really like. . . Aya was wrong, it was different. Same action but so different. His kiss, although no less finessed than my own, was rougher than a woman's was. Less timid, more assured and demanding. There was no hint of submission, but I didn't feel dominated either. . . It felt like we were on an equal level.

I dragged it out longer than was necessary, but then again I wasn't getting any complaints from his end either. Finally, I broke it off, our lips making a heavy smacking sound.

"Well I **suppose **that I could manage to put up with that for a week." I said with a melodramatic sigh, as I self-consciously took a step back away from him.

"Don't strain yourself." With the back of his hand, he wiped his mouth abruptly. Oh please, how childish. That's what Aya was. A child with a temper trapped in a man's body. . . For some reason I found myself fighting snickers, knowing that laughter would help nothing.

"Well goodnight. . . Aya-koi," I gave him a cocky wink and then made my leave of his disturbingly immaculate room.

****

Aya

At the jokingly flirtatious gesture, my eyes rolled. Then the second thought came to my mind and hit me like a ton of bricks. . . I'd just kissed Youji. . . Well he'd kissed me actually. . . And what are those girls getting so flustered about? He's not **that** good at it. . . Well maybe just a little.

Just great. He knows my secret now, and he's probably going to use it against me every chance he gets. At least he doesn't seem to mind, that's a relief. Despite the fact that we're not, well at least not what I would refer to as friends, being on hostile terms would really make things like living, working, and murdering people together much less pleasant. On the other hand, whoever said that they were pleasant before?


	3. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

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Youji

"I spy, with my little eye, something. . ." I looked in a couple different directions, trying to throw him off, "orange!" Oh, this one was good, he'd never figure it out in a million years. I'd have Aya begging at my feet to tell him the answer before the frustration drives him insane! Mwaahahaaa. . .

He didn't hesitate. "The little circle around the cigarette icon on the automatic lighter." His voice was muffled into his hand whereupon his head was propped to look out of the passenger window, not that there was a particularly large amount of captivating scenery at this point of the long drive to Kyoto.

"K'so!" I whined. "That was the hardest one yet! How did you figure it out?" He had to be cheating somehow! I knew it. . . Not that there was really anyway to cheat in this kind of game.

"You're thinking about smoking."

"Hmph," I gave a little indignant snort at the simple explanation. Aya was really a dark cloud in the blue sky when it came to prolonged rides in the car. "Well, **honey**, if you'd just let me smoke in the car, **my** car actually, I might be able to think of something else."

He countered, "I'd hate to see the person that I'm so _utterly in love with _die of lung cancer. Much less die of it myself."

"But **lovie** if we died, we'd be dying together! What mangaka wouldn't want to make a horrible comic about that?"

"Hn." Damn, I'd gotten him back on the _hns_

"Yeah I'm sick of this game anyway. Let's play something else. . . Oooh! I know! The dirty limerick round robin!"

"The what?" He spat at me.

"You know, dirty limericks. Only I come up with a line, then you, then me. . . Got it?" Back in high school, we'd made a drinking game of this before. It was so much fun!

"Fine." Wow, he must be bored, he actually answered me.

"Hmm. . . There once was a man from Nantucket." That was an easy one to start with. Just to break the ice a little.

"Who kicked the bucket."

"Ayaaaa!" My own whine made me cringe. "One it's supposed to be dirty, and two you can't just end it by killing the poor Nantucket man off before he gets any!"

"Haven't you ever heard of necromancy?"

"Huh?. . . Hentai! And you call me dirty!" Had I not known better I would've sworn that I'd seen him smile just a little.

****

Aya

After the first ten minutes in the car, I got a little edgy. Thirty minutes, I got a little irritated. Forty-five minutes, I wanted to shoot Youji. An hour, I wanted to shoot myself!

Honestly, what was the purpose of these pointless games that Youji kept insisting that we play. Can't the idiot just take solace in silence like I do?. . . Besides, who gives a damn about some old man from Nantucket and all of his talents that rhyme with "ucket?"

The realization that this trip was going to be hell no matter what had finally sunken in, so I tried to direct the aggravating prattle to something productive, like the mission. I'd meant to go over the details of just how we were going to go about this with him last night, but he had had me so pissed off that it completely slipped my mind.

Pulling a small black box from my pocket, I extracted one of two identical golden wedding bands and held it out to him.

"Oh Aya! I thought you'd never ask," he sarcastically snickered as he took the ring.

"On your **left** hand. . ."

"Well **sooorryyy**. Wild stallions like me don't have to think about things like being tied down. . . Especially to you."

"You'll soon find yourself a gelding if you don't start taking this seriously."

"Oh Aya! We have a whole week to take ourselves seriously, why not joke about it while we can?" Briefly, he looked away from the road to grace me with a broad grin. "Besides even if I were gay I wouldn't be married to **you**."

"Hn."

"Don't get me wrong Aya-kun you're hot as hell. . . uh, for a guy and all. . ." I could've sworn that I'd seen a hint of color his cheeks. I don't know why most men are so afraid to admit someone is attractive. Girls tell each other how cute they are all the time, and no one thinks that their about to go fuck each other into oblivion. "But," he continued, "you really need an attitude adjustment! "

"The feeling is mutual," I conceded with a sigh. Sad thing is, I kind of like his dysfunctional attitude just the way it is. "Back to the mission though. We're a recently married couple and this is our honeymoon. Our codenames are Shuichi and Yuki."

"Fine, you're Yuki. It's a girly name after all and you seem to be partial to those."

All that earned him was a glare. The comment bordered on going a little too far but I let it slide.

****

Youji

"So I'm the boy right." Like hell I was going to be the one to adopt a lisp and limp wrist. Not that I'd ever actually seen a person do those things in real life. . . However, Aya was the only gay guy that I personally knew. . . Anyway, if we were to draw attention we'd have to play the label up a bit, no matter how degrading it might be. . . I'd just as soon prefer that I not be the belittled one.

"Excuse me?"

"In the relationship, I'm the man."

"We're posing as a gay couple, the point being that we're **both **men." God Aya could be so dense. I don't know if he was really that in the dark as to the meaning of my words of if it were just a condescending effort to make me feel bad for playing to the homosexual stereotype. . . Either way I didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

"God do I have to spell it out for you? Who's fucking who?"

"I don't care," he stated mildly. "If your ego can't handle such a false identity, then who am I to dominate you." How could someone say something so sardonic and be so calm about it?

"Well I just thought it kinda went without saying. I am the bigger and the older of us two."

A rare smirk lit up his ivory features. "You've got a lot to learn."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Aya

The rest of the duration in the car was spent in blissful silence, much to Youji's sincere displeasure. The Hoshiko Hotel was a grand site I suppose, that is if you are awed by architecture. One must strain their neck to the point of discomfort to see the top when standing at its base. The entire building looked like a mirror, reflecting the lights of the city. Seeing as evening was finally setting in, just now chasing away the lasts wisps of sunset orange clouds, the main sign had been turned on. That in itself was a sight. . .

"See what did I tell you? Nothing but the best for my _Yuki_!" Youji stated in a 'baby-talk' tone as he leaned over to kiss my cheek before surrendering seven to the valet. Walking around he opened my door for me in a chivalrous manner. Fighting the urge to gag, I smiled kindly at him. Well this was the mission, and much to my surprise he was handling it almost -too- well.

Walking hand in hand, we entered the grand main office of the hotel. As we were entering, two rather attractive women happened to walk by. Ruefully I glared at him with a shake of my head. I had anticipated such a problem.

"Oh Ay-Yuki! Just because I'm married doesn't mean that I'm blind. You know that you're the one I love."

"_Honey _it's not the wandering eye that bothers me so much, it's who you're letting it wander for. . . " Leaning in, I whispered icily against his ear. "If I see you even so much as give a woman a second glance I'll kill you. This is a **mission**."

"But Yuuuuuuuuuuukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! (sorry , I had to! Hooray for Gravi) Can't I be a bisexual married man?"

The look that I gave him was all the answer he needed. "Flirt with the bellhop all you want but don't look at women!"

"That's like telling a shark not to swim! I'll die if I don't do it! I'll simply **die**!"

"Shut up Shuichi," I murmured, cutting him off with a kiss. Our eyes met as we did so and he knew that I meant what I said. Perhaps things weren't going to go so well after all. Hn, Youji's probably going to fuck it up within the first night here.

****

Youji

I could tell by the look that he was giving me that my new husband had little to no faith in me whatsoever. Truthfully, keeping my eyes off women wouldn't be so hard, so long as he was around to ogle and grope at my leisure, but Youji Kudou doesn't give up his without a fight, even if the cause was lost long ago. . .

As we approached the front desk, I placed my arm around his shoulders; he was stiff but I don't think that anyone else could tell.

"Good evening gentlemen," the receptionist said. He was old and short, but looked kindhearted enough. Actually, he looked like a male Momoe. Scary. "Name of reservation?"

"Shuichi and Yuki Fujudou please." Turning to the computer the man quickly typed in our aliases. "Yes, honeymoon suite, booked for ten days?" He asked, there wasn't any judgment of our sexual preference thus far, but that didn't take him off our list of suspects.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Just got married." Holding up my hand, I showed him the golden loop, which was a little too small for my finger and had been bugging me for a while actually. I'm sure that my poor, abused digit would turn purple and fall off at any moment now.

Swiftly there was discreet elbow-jab to my ribs. I had no idea what I'd done wrong until the clerk spoke up once again.

"Really? I didn't know that homosexual marriage was recognized by the government here?"

"Uh. . ." Oops, Aya had failed to mention _that_. Restraining an urge to yell at my _lover,_ I quickly came up with something. "Well we're married in our hearts and that's what counts. Fuck the government. I married him for his looks not his money."

Laughing good-naturedly the clerk handed us two of those nifty little cards that are actually keys. Call me immature but I've always thought that they were just too cool after having grown up with normal keys that never seemed to fit in the holes properly. "Floor 43, room 1187. If you have any needs don't hesitate to call us. Your luggage, I trust, should be in your room already. I hope you have a wonderful stay here at the Hoshiko Hotel."

"Oh we will, thank you." With that, we both departed to the elevator.

"Oh darling, if we're not married then why do we have to wear wedding rings."

"It's called a commitment ceremony," he murmured so inaudibly that I almost couldn't hear him. "It's like marriage but without the legal bindings."

"Now you tell me," I sighed as we came to a stop in front of the silver doors of the elevator. Lightly I pressed the up arrow and waited. . . And waited, and waited. . .Then, just to make things interesting, I waited some more! It took the damn thing about ten minutes to finally open, only to let out a stampede of tourists. We did finally manage to board it, however, and luckily we were the only passengers for the time being.

After delicately pressing in both 4 and 3, the younger assassin walked over to where I leaned against the wall in the corner. He caught me off guard a little as he pressed his body up against mine sensually, wrapping his lithe arms around my waste. His hot breath against my neck, when mixed with the proximity of our bodies, had my tight jeans feeling even more constricting.

Pressing his lips to my ear he whispered, "most likely our killer knows we're here and has bugged our rooms with hidden cameras. There's one in here for sure. When we get to the room we have to look for them but be discreet about it."

"No problem," I whispered as I bent my head to begin lightly kissing the flesh of his neck. "Might as well give the bastard a show before we kill him." Smugly I grinned as his breath began to quicken ever so slightly.

Much to Aya's sincere relief, I'm sure, the elevator stopped at about the eighth floor to load more passengers, brining an abrupt halt to the ministrations that I had in store for that lovely sensitive throat of his.

****

Aya

I'd just about lost it when the bastard started to lick my neck. Now he knew that it was one of my most sensitive spots. I'd be damned, in both the literal context as well as the figurative, if Kudou ever sees me with an erection. Much less, one that was induced by **him **arousing me.

Thankfully, we reached the room without further incident. Furtively we exchanged a knowing look before entering the room.

"Wow," I gasped, hoping to God that it didn't sound too utterly fake. "You really. . . Shuichi! This is too much!" I let my fingers graze the polished marbled tops of all of the furniture. Discreetly my eyes studied every which corner of the room. Yes, I know that the hidden cameras insured that the culprit would be able to verify our homosexuality, but it also meant that we'd actually have to have sex, which was something that I doubted Youji really cared to do.

"Hey, come look at this honey! It's like a fuckin' swimming pool!" I knew instantly that he didn't really care if I saw the Jacuzzi or not. Following the sound of his voice, I was lead into a spacious bathroom which a large hot tub like bath in one corner and a spacious, dual shower in the other.

"Wow, think of all the fun we can have in here. . ." I purred, doing my best to sound sultry. Pressing myself against him, I half wished that my actions could be in earnest. It was too damn hard to keep pretending like this. . . And yet it was heaven as well. Finally, I had my chance to be close to him, to touch him, to show the warmth that really was there like I never could before.

Huh, I laughed mentally to myself. Youji must think that I'm one damn good actor.

"Sorry darling but there's no hidden camera in here," he laughed. A good minute or two **after** I'd began to cuddle him.

"Oh," I muttered as I vehemently pulled away from him. "Why didn't you say so sooner."

"Sorry, I was kinda enjoying myself." His tone of voice made it very difficult to decipher whether or not he was kidding.

****

Youji

Whoever though that someone so cold could be so warm? I loved the way that Aya was being so affectionate, the way that his head fit perfectly at the crook of my shoulder. It hurt to hold him like that, feeling so much yet knowing that nothings returned. . .

"Come on," he icily told me. "I've located one camera. I'm pretty sure it's the only one. It's built in to part of the VCR on top of the television, pointed at the bed. I'm almost certain that there's no microphone built into it."

"You're positive there's only the one?" My fellow assassin nodded his assurance. "How're we going to get rid of it?"

"Just follow my lead. . ." Trusting _Yuki,_ I let myself be lead by the hand back into the bedroom. Stopping in front of the large, luxurious looking bed, Aya took both of my hands and brought them to his own waist, releasing mine his own came up to tangle themselves in my wavy blonde hair.

"I love you so much." His words were spoken slowly and deliberately. . . Oh! So that his lips could be read, I got it.

"I've been waiting for this for so long," I spoke softly, but just as pronouncedly as he had. Feeling bold, I let my hands slip down to his ass. It was both firm and soft at the same time.

Much to my surprise (and believe you me, it was a pleasant surprise) his look didn't falter in the slightest. Actually, he smiled a little, a _come-hither_ smile. Wow, I didn't know that Aya could make a _come-hither_ smile. . . It had me instantly hard though. His hands came down to begin unbuttoning my shirt, his lips lowering to kiss exposed skin. "Lie down," he whispered icily, bringing me back to reality somewhat.

At his command, I did so. So much for being the man. Coming over me, he straddled my hips in such a manner that my arousal pressed against his rear, okay so maybe I still was the man. Seductively he crossed his arms, pulling his shirt off, revealing a slender and smooth body to me. . . I'd never seen him even half-naked before. . . My God, he was gorgeous.

Taking said shirt, he threw it over his head in a manner that most would perceive as careless, but I knew better. "Did it land right?" He whispered the query to me. Trying my best to look inconspicuous, I peaked behind the beautiful man that was now straddling me. The hideous orange sweater had indeed landed so that the camera was concealed.

"Yes," I affirmed, but made no effort to move.

"Good." With that said, he abruptly got off me and walked over to his suitcase (the clerk had been correct in stating that they would've already been delivered. . . much to my current disappointment). Roughly, he unzipped it and pulled out the first shirt that his hands came to and pulled it on.

"My but aren't we the shy one," I teased at his eagerness to be dressed once again. All that this earned me was a glare. "Ya know you're really good at pretending to be into it. . . I bet you could make a lot of money in the porn industry!"

"You weren't so bad at _pretending_ yourself." In response to his seemingly innocent commentary, I did something that I, Youji Kudou, have **not** done ever since I lost my virginity!. . . I blushed. He was referring to my hard on and we both knew it. I couldn't help it! Why'd the man have to be so damned sexy?

Recovering quickly, I countered good-naturedly with: "Well the cock knows better than the brain what the libido has desire for."

"How. . . _poetic _of you. . . "

"Ain't it though?" I smiled lustfully at him. By his snort, I'd say that it was safe to assume that he took the gesture as mere teasing. "So is that hideous garment of yours going to be hanging over our TV all week or are we going to come up with a plan?"

"We? I already have. . . It stays there for tonight. Tomorrow we'll call the front desk and say that there is something wrong with the VCR and it wasn't playing our movies. Rather than send some repair man up here to fix this one they'll simply bring a new one to save time."

"Oh smart and beautiful! How'd I ever get to be so lucky?"

After a long pause, he feebly mumbled ". . .What's wrong with the sweater?"

"Huh?"

"You said that the sweater was hideous. . . What's wrong with it?"

Oh. . . My. . . Kami-sama! Aya was getting in panties in a snarl because I insulted his **fashion sense**?!?!. . . Despite my most sincere and strongest efforts, the violent waves of laughter would not subside and I was forced to submit to them. "Waahahahahahaaaaaa!" My eyes were watering and my stomach began to cramp, but I paid them no mind.

"Urusai!" He shouted at me in the "shi-ne tone," as we had all deemed it.

"I'm sorry Aya but you. . . Actually giving a damn about whether I like your ratty orange turtleneck or not? It's kinda perverse don'tcha think?"

"I don't give a damn about fashion," his growl was now subdued to the 'ice vocalized' tone that he was so fond of. "My sister made it for me. . ."

Suddenly I kind of felt bad. I don't know **why** I did, I just did. I mean I wouldn't let the matter go when Omi wore that hideous pink sweater that Momoe-san knitted him, but this thing with Aya's sweater seemed very different somehow. It showed that the bastard was human, in some small way.

"I never knew you had a sister," I admitted. Previously I had thought his entire family to be dead. Knocking off the concerned act I quickly added: "Is she cute?" My God, this could be the cure to my _ailment_. Someone with the Fujimiya beauty that was actually a girl!

"She's. . . Not well. Even if she were I'd kill you with my bare hands before you came within a hundred feet of her." Man, that glare always gets me! It was a perfectly innocent question. ". . . She's too young for you besides."

This talk about someone that was obviously very close to the redhead had my attention grasped and I wanted, no **needed**, so desperately to know more! "Does she know that you're in Weiß?"

"Hn." The shake of his head indicated that this was one of his negative _hn_'s, which were not too particularly different from his affirmative _hn_'s.

"That must be difficult," I sympathized. "How come she never comes to visit you? Or comes to the Koneko?" Nearly every girl in their right mind (or sexual orientation) in Tokyo spent every waking moment of their free time in the Koneko no Sumi Iie. Even if Aya's sister were too young for me she could always drool over Omi.

"I told you. She's not well." Those were his spoken words but it was quite clear that he meant to say, _drop the subject before my katana acquaints itself with your intestines._

"Well. . . I, uh, hope that she gets better. . ."


	5. Chapter 4

****

Chapter 4

****

Aya

I knew that going to the swimming pool was a bad idea, I just knew it! I cannot believe that I let the hentai baka talk me into it. _But **pookie**, it's for the mission! _Oh yes, now I recall. It was at the solemn oath that the bastard would **never** call me that again, and more importantly never address me as such in public.

Currently I was standing alongside the blonde, as he thumbed through a rack of swimsuits, in one of the hotel's many gift stores.

"I think I found the perfect one!" He cried triumphantly as he presented to me a poor excuse for a swi- Hell for **anything** that could be even remotely considered an article of clothing!

My right eye twitched as I lamented through clenched teeth, "you have **got** to be kidding me."

"Oh but A-Yuki-koi! Not only will the purple triangle reaffirm our homosexuality, but the color will also bring out those lovely eyes of yours."

The attempts to convince me were in vain. "Shuichi, it is nothing more than a purple triangle."

"Iie! Look, there's strings!" His grin screamed perverted stupidity loud enough to burst an eardrum.

"Fine but that still doesn't change the fact that I'd be arrested for public indecency."

"If you weren't allowed to wear it here they wouldn't sell it, now would they?" Now was no time to suddenly discover the logical thought process Youji! "If anything you'd just blind people with your glowing white ass."

"Glowing. . . White. . . Ass?" Previously I had never known that my eye had a twitching condition, but then again Youji seemed to bring out the worst in me.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease Yuki? For the mission!" His large emerald eyes were pleading, looking watery and full of light. They were hypnotic pools that I seemed to get lost it. . .

****

Youji

Ah, the puppy dog eyes do it every time! I can't believe that I actually got him to but that thing on! I bet the prude didn't even know that thongs existed outside of the footwear department!. . . Of course, I had yet to see the garment modeled for Aya had put his pants back on over it before exiting the changing room.

"So Aya, is it liberating?" I asked as I took my _husband's_ hand into my own and brought it to my lips so that I could kiss the callused knuckles.

"If I had wanted to floss my ass I could've used your wire," he spat at me, with a fury of violet flames burning in his eyes.

"Oh c'mon I've worn those millions of times," I assured him. "And I found them to be very comfortable."

"Were they cutting off your circulation?" Ah, yes I knew that the only one of the rack was a size small, but it'd be worth it! My salivary glands were just leaking in anticipation of the grand sight that was in store for me.

"Isn't that half the fun?"

__

'You and your sick hobbies' was the message that his eyes delivered to me loud and clear. Thankfully though, I saw the entryway that lead to the giant indoor pool area just ahead. Soon enough I swung one of the grand doors open for him. "After you," I offered courteously.

"Arigatou," he tried to manage with a smile as the couple facade was put into action once again. The pool area was relatively busy for this time of night (nine-ish to be precise). There were three hot tubs off in a separate part of the room, a large swimming pool in the middle, a smaller, more shallow wading pool to the side. Off through some more doors there was a gym and sauna area.

"Well lovely?" I asked gesturing to the grand array of options ahead of us.

"The Jacuzzi," he murmured. Darn, with all of the bubbles I wouldn't be able to check him out!

"Aww, but I wanted to have a water fight with you," I muttered, not that it helped my case any.

"There are too many kids over there." With a sigh, I conceded. Truthfully, the thought of hitting on Aya in front of so many chibis just didn't seem right. It'd be like me dragging home girlfriends and making Omi watch. . . Then again, we all know what Omi spends all night looking up on the internet, the little hentai!

"Alrighty then," I grinned broadly, as I led my husband by the hand up to the spa area.

A group consisting of both men and women, mostly middle aged, occupied the first hot tub. One of the remaining two had a couple of younger, college-aged guys sitting adjacent to similarly aged girls. Thankfully, the last one was empty. Passing a glance at Aya I noticed an emotion upon his delicate features that I'd never seen him express before- fear. Not like "oh it's gah-zeellaaaah!" fear, but a distant anxiousness.

"It's alright Aya," I whispered leaning in to kiss his cheek affectionately, not for show at all (but Aya didn't need to know that ).

Much to my surprise, he lifted those frantic eyes to meet mine for a moment. Suddenly I felt like I was experiencing a part of Aya that no one had ever seen before, a younger Aya, a pre-Weiß Aya. . . And it intrigued me. Quite rapidly though that gaze focused back into its normal stoic hatred. "Don't call me that while we're on a mission!" He hissed as he took the final steps over to the free hot tub.

With his back to the wall, the redhead took off his shirt then removed his pants in one fluid motion. Man! I wanted to see him from behind, not that what I was seeing in the front was a disappointment or anything. Let me assure you, it was far from disappointing. The alabaster skin of his body looked soft and utterly kissable. Two twin rosy nipples were erect in the cool, damp air of the pool area. . . Moreover, that thong! I felt like a little boy on Christmas who'd just gotten what they'd been waiting for all year. It was small, it was purple, and it left nothing to the imagination- in other words, it was perfect.

Sadly, though that perfect sight was soon denied to me as my love lowered himself into the steamy water. Removing my own shirt, I came to sit juxtaposed to my lover in the steamy tub. Misty heat rose in the air and clung to his body like sweat. A light, heat-induced flush covered his pale cheeks, and his pupils were dilated in the partial darkness of the dimly lit spa room. I bet that's what he looked like during sex; I smiled naughtily to myself.

****

Aya

Youji's been starring at me ever since I put on that damn thong. God I must look like an idiot if he still finds it **that** funny.

Sparring a glance, I looked over at the people in the other hot tubs. Never had I intentionally meant to get nervous, but heterosexual college males and gay people never seemed to mix. They weren't our target, I'm sure, but any potential trouble could jeopardize the mission.

"I don't think that the target is here," I spoke lightly to him without looking too suspicious.

Relaxing further down into the steamy water he murmured, "That's okay. We just need to build up a gay reputation around here, that's all. Besides there are hidden cameras. "

"What good will that do us? There are people around."

"Well, Manx said to use PDAs and PDAs are just DAs without the P," he reasoned with a traditional grin. Cocky bastard.

"What you have in mind is a public display of lust, _Shuichi-koi_."

"So? You never know, they might enjoy it. . . Besides," Youji purred as he scooted over until our thighs were touching beneath the water. "Those kids over there seem to be all over each other, how is it right that they can make out and we can't?"

Feeling his lips so close to mine, their breath cooler than the room's temperature, made me shiver. It had only been a little more than 24 hours since I'd last kissed those lips (and I mean **kissed**) and already was feeling as if I were being neglected, being denied some irrefutable human right. Soon that soft pink mouth was covering mine and a slick warm tongue was drawing my own out to come and play. Well I've never been one to turn down such an irresistible invitation, although I do my best to feign disinterest.

Two strong hands caught my hips beneath the water and pulled me closer so that our bodies were nearly as close as our mouths were. Not breaking once, our tongues continued to dance, taking turns with the lead. Much to my embarrassment a small, whimpered moan escaped me as he took my bottom lip between his teeth.

If there had been any way to end this without making scene I would have, but currently I was trapped. . . Not that I minded.

A strong hand with long, nimble fingers traced its way up my torso to rest upon my chest, where the blonde abruptly flicked one of my nipples.

"Oh god. . ." I breathed involuntarily.

"Yes?" Hn, smug bastard.

****

Youji

Oh, God Aya you're so beautiful. . . Soon my lips found their way to that sensual neck of his. Beneath my lips, I could feel the blood run, making his pulse sporadic. Man you wouldn't believe what a power trip it is to be able to make Vanilla Ice here melt and become liquid fire.

"Youji," he murmured against my ear. Wow, I even got a name-calling out of him. . . Soon though, "Youji. . . Youji. . . **Shuichi**."

Finally getting my attention I pulled back to meet the redhead's gaze. "Nani?" Looking at his utterly adorable expression, I could tell that his current blush was more due to embarrassment than to sexual excitement. Leaning in he whispered something incoherently against my ear.

"Long toke?. . . I didn't know you did drugs."

"No!" Leaning in he pronouncedly whispered: "The **thong** **broke**."

****

Aya

His eyes went wide for a moment before the giggles started to spill out. "You're kidding, right?"

I don't kid. Damn that bastard. I had told him that the stupid bathing suit was far too small. Did he listen to me? Noooo. It had been okay until it got all wet and tight in the pool, and then with him kissing me things expanded and. . . . Stopping my current train of thought, I desperately fought to keep the blushing at a minimum level. That bastard shouldn't have such an effect on me.

"What am I supposed to do Youji?" I asked, trying to restrain my panicked tone.

"Uh. . . Wait until everyone else leave-"

Suddenly our conversation was brought to a halt as a figure, dressed in the hotel staff attire, stood over us. I have to give the woman credit, it must take a lot of spirit to make five feet and ninety pounds of raging fury look intimidating.

"Excuse me sirs, but at the Hoshiko hotel we do not condone any hanky panky in the spa." The brunette girl's voice was a little high but still the condescending, authority-filled tone was quite clear. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the spa for the evening lest you be banned from the pool area for the remainder of your stay.

****

Youji

I felt like a teenager who got caught at make out peak by a police officer. "Gomen ma'am. It's just hard to keep your hands to yourself when you're around someone as beautiful as my Yuki, ne?"

A scowl was my only reply, both from the girl and Aya.

"All right, all right. We'll leave." . . . Oh wait a minute, what about the thong? "Um, could you turn around for a moment ma'am?"

"I'll give you to the count of five. One."

"Yuki-"

"Two"

"Shuichi just hand me the pants," Aya muttered with a scowl.

"Three."

"Nani!" I protested, "you'll get them all wet."

"Four."

"Just give me the goddamn pants!" Conceding before the five, I grabbed his jeans and quickly handed them over.

By the time, "five" came out Aya had idiotically put his jeans on underwater and stood up, brining half of the spa water with him.

"Uh. . ." The girl's eyes went wide with shock. "The hotel has towels out by the main pool."

"Let's just go Shuichi." Restraining a laugh I gingerly shook my head with embarrassment. Leave it to Aya, the only man who can retain a shred of dignity after being caught making out by a midget of a woman then having to walk away in soaking wet jeans with, what I gauged to be, the remnants of an erection. So, I did get to the assassin after all ey?. . .


	6. Chapter 5

****

Chapter 5

****

Aya

"Youji. . . Did you find that woman to be suspicious?" I asked. It was the first words that had passed between us since leaving the pool and heading back up the our room. Currently we were waiting for the elevator.

"Eh? You mean the munchkin? Nah, I'd say she's harmless." The blonde shrugged casually with his answer.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Hee," his laugh was small and condescending as he reached over to pat my head like I were some baby animal. "Is someone mad because they just acquired a new _most embarrassing moment ever_?"

Bastard, were it not for him I would never have even gotten the damn thong in the first place and we wouldn't be in this current. . ._situation._

"You think we can get a refund on that thing?" My partner wondered aloud.

"Nande?!" Youji's casual attitude about this mortifying situation was more than I could bear. "There are no refunds on swimwear."

"But it was faulty swimwear! They should at least replace it."

"No! That was the first and most definitely the **last** time that I will **ever** wear such a thing!"

Ding! Oh thank God. The elevator had finally arrived, meaning that soon I would be back in the hotel room where I would be able to slip into a nice warm pair of pants. As it was, my risk for hypothermia was increasing. Why was the thermostat turned on so low in the halls anyway?

Oddly enough, the elevator was empty when it arrived. Stepping in Youji pressed the digits and we were soon off on our way back to the sanctuary of our room.

It seemed almost reflexive to move to Youji's side and lean upon him. Sure it was all show for the camera but still, sometimes you just have to love what you do for a living. . . Even if it did involve embarrassment.

Along the slow climb to our upper floor the elevator suddenly made a halt, but not at a floor for passenger pick up. "Youji?" Slightly it lurched up again but after that sank. Then the lights went out.

****

Youji

"Aya. . . Give me a boost."

"What? I can't even see you."

Inside of the elevator was pitch black and I could feel it lurching downward as the cables above us started to moan and creak with the strain. "Just give me a boost, I need to open the latch." Reaching over I felt for his hands, which he's laced together obediently. Placing my left foot between them I stepped up and began to feel the roof for the latch door. It was with much difficulty that I kept my balance, much less found the door.

After much struggle, I finally managed to get it open- hopefully in enough time I mentally begged to some unknown deity as I heard one of the cables above us snap, making the elevator lean far to the side and scrape against the back wall of the shaft. Quickly I scrambled through the latch and onto the top.

"Give me your hand!" I commanded in a tone that was far too desperate for my tastes. Reaching into the darkness, I tried to feel for his grasp.

"Youji." Even the stoic redhead's bland tone was beginning to sound panicked.

A loud noise came from the elevator and I felt it beginning to decline.

"AYAAAAA!"

**Aya**

One moment I was in mid freefall reaching blindly for an unseen hand and the next I was surrounded by two strong arms as we swayed back and fourth with only Youji's wire to hold us up.

"Youji. . . " I softly whispered, not really meaning to.

"You all right there Aya?" His tone sounded panicked. I knew it was wrong but I couldn't help but take pleasure in the worried tone that his voice conveyed. He actually cared. . .

Gently I lifted my head and brought my lips to his, they lingered there for a moment or two in a chaste kiss of affection, and then retreated.

"Aya. . ." His tone was soft and I could detect a slight confusion.

Clearing my throat gruffly I mumbled, "we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah. I actually kinda like being alone in the dark with you. You know just _hanging_ out?" At the sound of my growl, I can safely assume that the blonde realized I wasn't up for playing around here. "Alright, alright. Going up?" With that the wire began to coil furtively back up into Youji's watch and we had lift off.

"Okay," Youji began as soon as the wire stopped reeling in. "See that ladder railing to the side?"

Despite the fact that my eyes had grown quite accustomed to darkness in my years with Weiß, I still had to squint to make out the outline of the rungs. "Hn."

"I'm gonna swing you over there." With that I felt his body moving in an effort to get us swaying which worked quite well actually. "Okay, on three you've got to jump."

Having long since gone into "mission mode" I just nodded affirmatively.

"One. . . Two. . .Three!" The spilt seconds between being held by Youji and desperately grabbing out for the ladder were heart wrenching. Odd that it would be more terrifying to fall to an ominous death in a mere elevator shaft than it would be to face any living enemy, even Schwarz.

Gripping the icy cold rungs between my fingers I consciously forced myself to breathe, urging my heart rate to come back down to a normal pace.

Within seconds I heard a small "oof" as Youji clung to the ladder beneath me.

"What now?" I asked simply.

"Well we could escape but that wouldn't keep up the tourist façade now would it?" Right for once. "I guess we'll just have to wait it out."

"Hn." That was easier said than done. Not only was it cold enough to freeze hell over in here, but I was also wearing soaked jeans. After a few moments of just sitting there, clinging to the ladder, I felt my teeth begin to chatter.

"Cold?"

No shit Sherlock. "Hypothermic would be far more appropriate."

"Saa. . . Hmm. Give me a moment, I'm thinking."

I wanted to say _don't hurt yourself_ but the words just wouldn't come in lieu of the fact that I now owed the man my life.

"Look Youji, if we managed to get out of the elevator and onto the ladder why would it blow anything to merely climb the ladder until we find a door?"

"Ah, my wonderful intelligent honey bunny."

****

Youji

Never will that cold bastard know how scared I was when I thought that I might not grab his hand in time. A sick feeling rose in my stomach at the mere thought of it all. . . Now though we were safe. Safe and freezing, clinging to a ladder and screaming "TASUKETE!" For anyone who wasn't deaf. Someone would have to press the elevator button. They just had to! If not my precious baby would freeze to death. . . Wait a minute. Did I just refer to him as my _precious baby_ in a non-joking manner?. . . Oh dear God!

"Youji. . ."

"Hai."

"This has got to be the worst mission ever."

"Aww Aya, it's not all that bad pretendin' to be a couple now is it?" That actually kind of hurt when he said that. For the most part I'd been rather enjoying myself.

"It has nothing to do with that. I'm freezing and mortified with a mangled thong and wet pants. Hn, sounds more like I'm a hooker than an assassin." Then I heard something that I'd never really heard Aya do before. It started off small and then got a little louder. Aya was. . . Laughing.

Helpless to the contagiousness of it all I began to laugh too. I laughed so hard that my stomach cramped and tears were rolling down my cheeks.

After a period of sharing good maniacal laughter together, the chuckles died down. "What were we laughing at again?"

"I don't know. . . Aya."

"Hn."

"You know this mission. . . It's not so bad. Really. Actually I kinda. . . Well, what I mean to say is-"

Suddenly my horribly emotional and out of character confession was blown by us being rescued. God damn them! "Are you alright sirs!" A voice yelled down.

****

Aya

Thank god. We were finally free. Stepping out of the cold dark tunnel we were greeted by a maintenance repair man. Alongside him was an attractive woman that I'd place somewhere around thirty. Her uniform was a business dress suit, and l she looked to be one of the higher ups.

"I am so terribly sorry gentlemen!" Her large brown eyes looked pleadingly up at the pair of us. "You're both very lucky to be alive. I honestly have no idea what happened to the elevator. . ."

"It's all right Miss. We're alright," Youji assured her with a good natured smile. It wasn't quite flirting but he'd better not push it!

"Are you sure that you don't need medical attention?"

Sharing a glance we both shook our heads negatively.

"Please gentleman, accept your weeks stay here at the Hoshiko hotel as a free gift from us. Also my name is Ayame Junko. If you need anything, and I mean **anything,** please don't hesitate to ask."

"Huh, you'll probably be wishing you hadn't made that offer when you see the room service bill that we rack up." Although it sounded as though the blonde was joking I knew he was not.

Also it struck me as odd that this woman knew that we were staying for at least week. Manager or not, no one memorizes things like that. . .


	7. Chapter 6

****

Chapter 6

Youji

I couldn't help but notice the odd expression that stayed on Aya's features as we made our way back to the room by means of stairs.

"Aya? Daijobu ka?"

"Hn?" He looked up. "I'm fine. I was just wondering, did you find her suspicious? She knew how long we were staying here and also I wouldn't think for a minute that the incident with the elevator was an accident."

Oh my poor, neurotic red head. "I agree with you wholly on the elevator part but Junko-san is probably harmless. Besides, she said a week, not 10 days. It was probably just a way to cover her ass so that she doesn't get sued."

Fishing out my key card, I got prepared to open the door as we made the last turn to the hall in which the said door was located. Ah, room 1187. With a quick slide, the green light lit up and we were permitted access into the nice, cozy room.

Hurriedly pushing past me Aya went straight for his bag to fish out some, not only warmer, but also considerably drier, clothes. Passing a glance at the clock on the wall I realized that it was getting bit late even for this night owl. . . almost. With a yawn, I opened my own duffle bag and got out a pair of sweat pants, like anything more was necessary for sleeping in.

As Aya walked by me stripping, he shot me a glare and menacingly barked, "Do you mind?" The effect though was killed by a red tint to his cheeks.

"Insecurity problems Aya-koi?" Was my drawled response. All I got in retaliation was some incoherent grumble as the younger man slammed the bathroom door.

****

Aya

Slipping my chilled legs into the welcoming pajama pants was like heaven, the nice large tee shirt was just a bonus. Throwing my wet pants over the towel rack and discarding the mangled thong into the trashcan I made my way back into the hotel room.

Youji was sitting upon the bed looking intently at the menu on the television. . . Wait a minute, the television?!?!

"Youji!"

"What?" I think that my yelling startled him, but right now I didn't care. How the hell were we supposed to cover the camera now?

"You're blowing our cover!"

"Huh?. . . Oh, relax Aya; the VCR is still covered up." Looking over I saw that the idiot was right. "Really Aya you're so tense and paranoid. . . Come here."

"Why?" My words were questioning but my body disobediently walked towards him.

"Lay down. . ." My eyebrow rose. "I just want to give you a massage."

"Haven't you done enough for me tonight?" My words were softly spoken and sincere, as I recalled him saving my life. I owed the beautiful idiot now. . .

"Considering the thong I'd say we've broken even," sheepishly he rubbed the back of his neck. "So c'mon Aya. I can make you feel like jelly! Trust me. . ."

"That's quite alright, I assure you-"

"Aya. I saved your life and I order you to let me massage you!"

With a conceding sigh, I began to lie down but Youji stopped me. "Wait, you've gotta take your shirt of. . . C'mon it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"You've seen me in a thong before but that doesn't change the fact that you never will again."

"Aya, stop being so damn stubborn!" With that, the blonde stood up and began to manually strip me.

"Stop! Alright." With a characteristic grin, he backed off letting me remove the garment myself. Then I lay face down on the bed, oddly I didn't feel as vulnerable as I'd previously thought I would.

****

Youji

The redhead stiffened beneath me as I straddled his thighs. Yes! Aya ala carte, with a side of strawberry scented massage oil compliments of Youji's seduction kit.

"Relax Aya," I purred as I poured a healthy portion of the smooth liquid onto my hands. Setting the bottle aside, I lowered my fingers to his taut shoulders. "You really need to learn to unwind, even if we are on a mission."

The skin of his neck was smooth beneath my fingertips, so kissable. Softly I heard him sigh as I rubbed up near his hairline. "Feel good?" My words sound cocky and I know it.

"Hn. . . Youji, what were you looking for on the TV anyway."

"Huh?. . . Oh, that! Well there's movies you can rent for your rooms here, kinda like Payper View and man you wouldn't believe how much porn we can get up here!"

"Hentai." He scolded.

"Yeah, some of that too." My hands were now at the bottom of his shoulder blades and rotating inward down to the small of his back.

"Mmn," the soft moan was stifled, but nothing gets past a pro like me. Scooting back further down his thighs, my hands were working dangerously close to the waistline of his pants. Hmm, that could be fixed.

"Youji-" He began to argue but I cut him off.

"Oh no! More of my ungodly white skin for the world to see!. . ." He 'hn-ed' at me. "Get over it." I then tugged down the loose pants until they were almost at the plumber's butt line. Needless to say, I lingered in this area of his body far longer that anywhere else.

Seeing as how my little Aya was being oh so very compliant tonight, I decided to dare a little more. My fingertips gently grazed the skin beneath his sweats.

"You-" Suddenly there was a light knocking at the door. Shit.

****

Aya

"Oops, Aya, excuse me. I forgot that while you were in the bathroom I ordered some food. Boy they're fast." Lifting himself off me Youji went over to answer the door. Hn, baka.

Taking the opportunity while I had it, I sat up and grabbed one of the hotel pillows and placed it over my lap in such a manner that it looked natural, not at all erection concealing. . .

Coming back into the room, I saw Youji carrying a bottle of some sort of liquid, probably something alcoholic, and a bag of potato chips.

"I thought you said food?" I snorted.

"Chips are food."

"I wouldn't eat anything from here if I were you," I cautioned him. "Just look what happened with the elevator."

"I'm way ahead of you," he assured. "I made sure to only order packaged stuff." Unscrewing the lid off the drink he was about to take a sip when I stopped him.

"No!"

"Oh c'mon I don't want to get a cup-"

"What?!- I don't care if you drink out of the bottle. It might be poisoned."

"Pft." He snorted at my well-justified caution. The killer, whoever they may be, had been working fast on us!

"Youji!"

Quickly I sprang up from the bed and yanked the bottle out of his hands. "Hey! Aya!" He groaned with frustration.

"You'll thank me for this later," I mumbled as I walked over to a houseplant in a corner. "Watch," I instructed as I poured some of the liquid into the flowerpot. . . Okay, come on plant, you are supposed to die right about now. . .

"Wow Aya, that might have scared me if something actually **happened** to the plant. . . Then again, what would happen, the plastic melt?"

Huh? Upon further inspection, I realized that Youji's words were the truth. The plant was indeed plastic. . . Oh my.

"It could still be poisoned," was my dejected and incoherent protest as I walked past him and back towards the bed.

"Oh Aya, seeing you blush is worth a drink any day."

****

Youji

But I was still thirsty! Oh well.

Silently I observed my _husband_ as he turned down the covers of the bed, the way his muscles were shadowed in the dim lighting was utterly erotic. The bulge in his pants only served to heighten my own. . . _Passion_. ;)

Walking over I turned off the TV and went around to the opposite side of the bed. As we were both about to climb in our eyes met. Yay! Another awkward moment in a long string of awkward moments! He was the first to avert his eyes as he lay down, making sure to stay as far to his designated side as possible.

"Mind hitting the light Aya?" I requested with a yawn as I crawled in beside him but more towards the middle.

"Hn." There was a loud click of a switch and then all was dark with the exception of the faint glow of the television. I have never really understood the glow-in-the-dark quality of TVs but it is damn creepy. Luckily, the effect usually wears off in a minute or two but it always makes me think of this crappy foreign film that we rented once, The Ring or something like that. Pft, it was soo not scary. . . Okay, well maybe a little.

"Hey Aya."

"What?" Funny, his voice didn't sound as irritated as I had figured it would.

In a scratchy voice I whispered, "Seven daysssssssss."

"Oh God." He groaned. I was surprised that he even remembered the terrible movie, but then again it was hard to forget after the weeklong paranoia that had gripped Ken like a vice. He had crawled into bed with Omi every night!. . . Hey, wait a second. . .

"Aya. . . Do you think that Ken and Omi are hiding something?"

"Like what?"

"You know, do you think they're a couple?"

Turning over to face me, our eyes met in the dark. Although all I could see was his silhouette, it still felt like we were making eye contact, it was kinda intimate actually.

"What brought _that_ up?"

"Well I was thinking' about how Ken kept crawling into Omi's bed after he saw that crappy Ring movie."

He pondered this for a moment, and then answered. "It wouldn't surprise me. Ken had a rather close relationship with that Kase guy."

"Yeah and that Ouka chick kinda forced herself on Omi. . .it's a possibility." With that, I kinda chuckled, feeling like some dumb teen girl gossiping at a slumber party. "So who do you like?"

"Hn?"

"You heard me," I teased. "You got the hots for the Chibi or the Jock?"

"Oh please," I almost detected a laugh with that answer. "Just go to sleep Youji."

"I will when you tell me who you are interested in!" I knew I was pushing it but something deeply residing in me was urging me to find out the truth. Even if it hurt, I wanted to know. . .

"That's none of your business."

"Aya- Please. . . I'll tell you who I like!"

"Youji, we're not 13."

"Please!"

****

Aya

God just shut up Youji! I could **not** tell him of my feeling for him. He would either kill me or die laughing. Then again, if I said nothing then it would be obvious that I was hiding something. "Fine," I surrendered. "I like someone that I can never have and someone that I can't even understand why I want. Now goodnight Youji."

"Aya!. . .Hn. Well I'll tell ya who I like." Even in the dark, I could just _feel_ the pout on his face. "Let's just say that Youji Kudou doesn't always walk in a _straight_ line if you catch my drift."

Was Youji actually admitting to something! "Huh?"

"It's called bi-curious Aya, now _goodnight_." He mocked.

"Youji!"

"ZzzzZzzz." He fake snored.

"Bastard," I muttered.

****

Youji

"Wow, you guessed right." My words were barely above a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

Finally, I let the silence hang between us and just relaxed into the warm sea of blankets. The mattress was soft and the pillows were fluffy, if only regular hotels came like this.

As I felt myself sailing out into dreamland, I lazily scooted up next to my dosing companion and held him against me.

"Huh?" I could tell that he was nearly asleep but the cutely slurred tone.

"'Night Aya. . ." I smiled as I buried my face into the sweet smelling crook of his neck. The smooth skin of his bare torso against mine was blissful. . . If only we could stay like this forever.


	8. Chapter 7

****

Chapter 7

****

Aya

I was awake before I opened my eyes; maybe I could still feign sleep if I kept them closed. Generally, I am a morning person. Hm, I remember how Aya-chan used to tell me that the roosters would come and get me for making them look bad. . Yeah, it was a lame joke but it never ceased to bring a smile to my face. . . This morning was not like other mornings though. Always there was a stiff sheet, my only warmth against a cold room and a hard mattress. I could afford, but did now allow myself, such luxuries as a comfortable bed. This morning though I was surrounded by warmth and comfort, all of which I can't honestly attribute to the mattress.

Thus, I continued to fake sleep, and as I came more to the distinct presence of arms wrapped around my bare shoulders was detected. Not only that but my own arms were going numb from being tucked under the warmth of someone. . . Hn, Youji. He must still be asleep as well, if he'd continue in this intimate embrace.

But no. . . I realized, he was awake! The conclusion dawned on me when I felt a rumble in his chest as he laughed at something. . . I was aware of the faint buzz of the television but the blonde had the volume so low that I could not tell what it was.

"What are you laughing at?" I tried to slur my words to make it seem as though I had just been awakened.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you Aya-KoI," he rolled the taunt off his tongue. "You just looked so cute while you were sleeping that I didn't have the heart to wake you."

With an all too common _hn_ I reluctantly forced myself to get off Youji and sit up. Sparring a glance over at the TV caused me to nearly faint.

"What the hell are you watching?!?!?!"

****

Youji

The utter look of shock, disgust, and faint excitement was priceless.

"It's called Boku no Sexual Harassment. I heard some girls in the shop talking about it. . . Didn't know that we were serving such little ecchis, didya Aya?" Having woken surprisingly early this morning I let curiosity get the better of me and rented one of the bad Hentai Porn movies, YAOI or whatever it's called. I needed more ideas for when I finally seduced my little redheaded koibito.

Stealing another glance at the dumbfounded man caused me to stifle a laugh. Never before had I seen the man look so utterly uncomfortable. Pointing at the screen, he began to ask timidly, "Is that. . . "

"A beer bottle? Yeah. If you think that's bad you should've seen the thing with the corn!" Perhaps I should have rented a little less. . . _Food oriented_ film to get ideas from.

"Corn?!?!. . ." Frowning at me, he muttered with a pout. "Now you've ruined corn for me! Thanks a lot Youji."

"How the hell was I supposed to know that you even liked corn? All you ever eat is junk food!" For such a slender, in shape man Aya **did** eat a lot of crap. If he couldn't admit that to himself, he was more in denial than I had previously imagined.

"Hn. Well how was **I** supposed to know that you liked animated men having threesomes?" Hmm, good question. . . "And I do **not** eat **that** much junk food."

"I don't like animated gay porn! I just think it's funny! And you do too eat a lot of junk food Miss Piggy." All that earned me was one of those icy shi-ne stares. Damn the man should patent them or something! "Don't get your thong in a snarl biseinen. It's for the mission. Just because the titles aren't on the receipts doesn't mean that they don't know what you're renting."

"Hn. Porn is more expensive than the mainstream films."

Cocking an eye up at him, I smile wickedly, "speaking from experience Aya?"

"It's a simple case of supply and demand. My father was a banker, I know a lot more about money than I've ever really cared to."

****

Aya

I have no idea what drove me to admit something like that to Youji. My past was none of his business, even worse was the fact that he hadn't even asked me about it in the first place!. . . Strangely, though it didn't seem too uncomfortable.

"What did your mom do for a living? Or was she a stay at home kinda mom?" Wow, he actually sounded genuinely interested in my youth, and yet not pushy like I had known him to be in the past.

"She was a homemaker."

"Ah, I never knew that you were into political correctness."

"Not politically correct, just truthful. With a strict grouch like my father and a hyperactive child to deal with it **is**a career."

Laughing the blonde man turned sparkling green eyes up at me. "So you were hyper active? I find that hard to imagine."

Concealing a small smile, I corrected myself. "No, my sister was."

"So what was Aya like when he was little boy?" Now by the look on his face I could tell that I really had his interest.

". . . Not that different." I hesitated before answering. "Perhaps a bit happier but that goes without saying."

"True. . . So when did this Aya _becomes a sexpert _come in if you were still so shy?" I just wanted to slap the ecchi grin off his face.

"Just full of questions this morning aren't we?"

****

Youji

Oooh, bonus points! He used the murder voice on me! Seriously, though I had been making such progress with him, I didn't want to loose that now. . . Not to mention that I wanted a pretty mental image of Aya in my mind to drown out the nasty YAOI film that was still running on the screen, consequently .

"Please Aya. Just tell me about it and I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

He hesitated as if in though. Honestly, I doubted that he would even consider it, having never been a curiosity-filled kitten like myself. "Fine. . ." He conceded after a moment or two. Staring me down though, he requested, no, ordered, roughly: "but you'll never say a word to anyone!"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Eee! This was gonna get good.

Taking in a deep sigh, he began softly. "I lost my virginity when I was 13-"

"Huh?!?!" That could **not** be right. That bastard couldn't have beaten me to the finish line! I only lost mine when I was 15!

"Do you want me to continue or not?"

"Yeah but. . . 13?!?!"

"Urusai. . ." Finally giving it up I silenced myself. "When I was eighth grade I was having trouble with algebra and my father, being a banker and all, wanted me to excel in math. So he hired me a tutor. An attractive, high school aged tutor. After a while. . . Well you're not brain dead, put two and two together."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. . . For a moment, I was afraid that I might faint. . . "You were _willing_?"

"I wasn't raped if that's what you asking."

"Man. . . I was 15 when I lost mine and I was too drunk to remember it!"

****

Aya

Sucks to be you. My relationship with my tutor had only lasted a year. Upon my entering the same high school that he attended things became too awkward and he broke it off. It had hurt for a long time, but I'd gotten over it.

Breaking away from my short reverie, I realized exactly _why_ I had been telling all of this to Youji. "So now it's my turn. . . What did you mean last night?"

"Uh. . . Heh heh, mean about what?"

Hn, just _try_ to avoid it Youji, there is a three-foot long piece of steel in my suitcase that might bring you to my way of thinking.

"You know very well what."

"Okay, what I said about replacing the thong. . . Well it's cause I wanted one! To uh. . . Give as a gag souvenir to Ken and Omi. Who knows, they might actually like it."

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about."

"Well," he countered. "What are **you** talking about. I can't very well answer a question if I don't know what it is Aya!"

"What did you mean when you said-"

"Hey! Look Aya! That cartoon guy looks like a Takatori!" Stupidly I looked at the television. . . Hm, he actually **did** look like a Takatori. Suddenly there was a remote control whizzing by my head as Youji yelled out in an impression, and a very **embarrassingly bad** impression of me. "SHI-NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Youji you ba. . ." Suddenly the remote hit the sweater covering the camera sending it down to the floor. "Ka. . ."

****

Youji

My do I ever have a talent for evading subjects! Suddenly the act was put back into place as I rolled over to be on top of my artificial lover. Breathing lowly against his ear, I murmured. "We're still under the covers, you think that we could just make it _look_ like we're having sex?"

"I still need an answer. . . " He demanded with a pout. What a stubborn baka! Quick Kudou, think of something fast, think of something fast. . .

"Err, what I was talking about was that there was this one time that I saw a drag queen and mistook them for a girl." I felt bad for lying but I think that I'd probably feel worse if I confessed and told him how much I really enjoyed being atop of him like this. "Later when I learned that they were really a man though, I didn't really care. . . But that was a long time ago."

"Oh. . ." God, why did he look so disappointed? Suddenly I felt like I had kicked a puppy or something. . . Maybe, just maybe he felt the same for me. "Well, now that you've blown our cover we'd better get on with it." He mumbled brining his arms around my back as he spread his legs around me and bent them. God it felt so good to be close to him like this.

Gently I stroked firey red pieces of hair away from his smooth features as I lowered my mouth to his in a gentle kiss. Tentatively my tongue brushed against his soft lips, requesting access that was soon granted. Morning breath aside, it was wonderful. Warm and passionate, or mouths making love as my hands crept between us to stroke a small nipple.

His lips closed momentarily against mine, trapping my tongue in his mouth as he moaned. It was so inadvertently erotic that I was four to seven in seconds flat. My lips trailed away from his momentarily so that I could look at his face. His violet eyes were burning with passion, as were his cheeks. Longish tendrils looked like blood spilled out over the silken white pillow. Saliva slick lips were parted as they took in short gasps of air.

"You're so beautiful." Oops, that wasn't supposed to slip out! He had to know that it wasn't for the camera because the camera could not see it! His brows drew together in a look of slightly scared confusion. Before any protests could be vocalized, my mouth went in again for a more heated, ravenous kiss.

His cock was hard against mine through the thin confines of his silky pajama pants. Thrusting against him the soft material of my sweats rubbed against me, sending a tremor of ecstasy throughout my body. "Youji. . ." he sighed as my lips, teeth, and tongue worshiped that slender neck of his.

Soon his own hips found a rhythm with mine. I hope that the thick blankets and comforter still piled atop of us made the show convincing. It was certainly good enough for me! Never before, at least not since high school, had dry humping been so utterly satisfying.

Moving to nibble on his ear caused a shift in positions, my hardness rubbing against his _other _erogenous area.

"Mmnnn. . ." Stifle the moans all you want Aya-koi, just so long as I know that I'm getting to you. "Youji. . . Youji. . . Stop."

"Why?"

"Youji this is enough! I think we've convinced them-" I cut off the protests with a kiss. Wouldn't want those serial killers to think that Youji Kudou has no stamina. His hands were pushing at my chest, but not all that hard, not risking revealing our true identities. Why was Aya being so pushy anyway, he was hard so I could tell he was enjoying it.

. . . Then it hit me as I felt his legs tremor beneath mine and his thrusts against me became a bit more erratic. Aya was enjoying this _too _much. Breaking our kiss he buried his face against my neck and, despite previous protest, held me as close to his body as was humanely possible as he came. There wasn't any great yelling of my name or gratuitous moaning, only a soft whimper and hitched panting as his thrusts slowed and then finally ceased.

Despite my remaining erection, I stopped my movements as well and contented myself with lying atop of him as he came down from an unwanted high.

"Aya. . ." his head was turned to the side and his eyes refused to meet mine. The look of shame of his face was breaking my heart. If I did not know my fellow assassin better, I would say that he was about to cry. "Aya. . . I'm sorry. I-"

"It's not your fault," he cut in.

"I should've listened to you! Aya. . . Don't be upset. I'm not. I'm glad that I could make you feel good!. . . Don't be angry." It was only half the truth but he needed to hear it. Honestly though I wished that I could've made him feel nice willingly.

"I'm **not **angry. . . Get off me Youji."

****

Aya

I could've died right about then. Willingly he rolled over so that I could move off the bed.

"Wait!" He stopped me.

"What now?" I nearly growled. I was not mad and Youji, although I had every right to be. Mostly I was just frustrated and disappointed in myself.

"Um, you should probably take your pants off." Oh, yeah, I had forgotten about that. Despite the fact that his words were innocent and it was very much the truth, it still did nothing but damper the terrible mood that I was in. Not only had I cum because of humping his leg like some dog, but also my dreams had been dashed when I'd found out that he'd been attracted to a cross dresser! I cannot believe that I'd have ever deluded myself so much as to believe that my feelings were reciprocated.

"Don't worry." His words drew me out of a trance as he looked over at me with a reassuring smile. "I won't look." True to his word, he closed his eyes and laid back. Thank you Youji.


	9. Chapter 8

****

Chapter 8

****

Youji

Funny. . . Most would think that I'd have been the one suffering on this assignment. . . Poor Aya, that pride of his must be wearing thin. We've been here for one whole day and already in those twenty-four hours he's experienced more embarrassment than probably in the rest of his life combined! Were I not feeling so low myself I'd probably laugh, as mean of me as it sounds it's the truth.

Well enough moping for the both of us! Smiling, I looked at the brochure that I had just picked up in the lobby. No, today was going to be a good day. My poor little Aya-koi was going to have fun whether he liked it or not!

"Oh Yuuuki," I called entering the room. Mr. Ice Man was sitting in one of the hotel chairs, away from the camera's sight, reading some book. Puh-lease, who reads on their honeymoon?. . . Well who reads non-pornographic material, anyhow?

"Youji."

"Hm?"

"Look at the plant," his hand was in the point gesture, aimed towards the artificial shrub.

"What about it?" Looked the same as it did last night, only with a higher proof. What did that have to do with anything?

"No, the carpet underneath it." Walking closer to the plant, I was shocked at what I saw. The pastel blue rug had turned an odd orange color where the liquid had leaked out of the flowerpot. Throughout the stain were little singe marks.

"Now we're even." Looking up, I saw him smirk a little. So his paranoia had paid off, well I'll be damned. Well I _would have _been damned, but my little Aya koibito saved me. Suddenly I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Now more than ever I was determined to make this a wonderful day!

"Oy, Yuki-chan. I already told you the thong incident made up for the elevator thing. . . Therefore, I owe you. And I know just how to repay you. . ."

****

Aya

Hn, whatever the idiot had in mind I was sure as hell not interested. All of Youji's ideas seemed to earn me nothing but mortification and more items to add to the pro-list on my suicide debate.

"I'm going to take you to the Great Kyoto amusement park!"

Nande?!

"_Ran ni-chan I really want to go there! Pleeease? I love you!"_

"After my final car payment, I promise Aya-chan."

"Really?!?!"

"Really."

Shaking my head to clear it of such thoughts, I promptly refused. "That has nothing to do with the mission."

"But _Yuki_, won't it be suspicious if we just stay in our room all day?"

"They'll think that we're horny newlyweds," I scoffed in return. He did make a good point though.

"Well if you're up for another _show for the camera_ then be my guest." Upon hearing that my eyebrows drew together with a flux of emotions, none of them pleasant. Hadn't the bastard tormented me enough in the past two days?

"Please Aya; I just want you to have some fun on this trip. Besides we need to give the killer some time to plant traps for us and all." Yes, that was another important thing, although it seemed that our killer worked fast, as in the incident with the elevator. But still, perhaps it would be better to give the culprit time to prepare. The sooner the killer went after us, the sooner we could go home. . . Being the decoy with no backup was not my idea of a walk in the park.

"I don't like this mission. We can't defend ourselves when we're bait." Upon hearing my coldly muttered lamentation, I heard Youji snicker to himself. The look I gave him was a question in itself.

"Sorry, it's just that all this talk about traps and bait makes me think of one of the movies I rented this morning."

"You were watching the bass wrangling network?" Never could I grasp the concept of fishing for recreation, much less wanting to watch other people fish. My feelings towards golf were much in the same.

"Huh?. . . No, it was another one of those YAOI movies, called 'Fish in the Trap'."

I felt my eyes expand to twice their normal size. If I hadn't been shocked at the fact that he had rented one film this morning I certainly was now. TWO YAOI movies? "Exactly how many of those did you watch?!"

"Well," he laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I got up pretty early in the morning."

"Hentai baka."

"Oh Yuki, you know me so well!. . . But c'mon, please come with me! I'll let you pick all of the rides! I won't even look at the girls getting off the water rides in wet t-shirts. I swear!" No good Youji, and that was a sizeable offer coming from him. "I. . . I'll. . . I'll buy you one of those gigantic suckers the size of your head!"

****

Youji

I could tell from the grimace on his face and the pained look in his eyes that my Aya was currently thinking something along the lines of: "Damn my love for candy!" It's funny to think that such a bitter man is the owner of such a large sweet tooth. . . Hmm, one could make the connection that through his love for all that is sugary, that my little Aya would be receptive to food in the bedroom. Heee. . . . _Non-hentai thoughts, non-hentai thoughts._

"Fine." Yes! The ice princess finally admitted defeat, drawing me out of my little sex haven bubble that I sometimes wander off to. Walking across the room, he pulled a sweater out of his suitcase. "Well, are we going or what?"

The ride to Great Kyoto was a blur, a silent blur at that. After fifteen minutes or so, we were there, at Great Kyoto in all of its theme parky glory! With a surge of adrenaline, or immaturity. . . Whatever. I felt my heart rate increase as I looked up at the giant roller coasters, the roars of them zooming along the tracks mingled with screams of fear and excitement. Oh, I had not been to an amusement park in. . . . Well it's been so long that I can't remember.

Grinning widely I stole a glance over at Aya. His face looked remorseful for some reason. "Aya, the roller coasters aren't _that_ scary." I teased in an effort to get the stoic man to finally lighten up.

Returning to his generally icy countenance, he glared at me. "Let's go get our tickets."

****

Aya

To make a rather long and tediously boring story short, we were **finally **in the park. I urge the word "finally" because we had spent the last hour or so waiting in line for a rickety little shuttle thing that comes out into the deep recess of the vast parking lot every now and then, taking unsuspecting tourists into the presumably innocent death trap. After that ordeal had ended, we were faced with yet another challenge: the peril of standing in a crowded line for our passes, surrounded by frumpy mothers with their dozens upon dozens of screaming demonic children.

Somehow, though we had made it in mostly worse for wear, the majority of the damage being psychological. Youji, who was now seated upon a bench beside me, was pouring over a colorful map of the park as though it lead to some sort of priceless treasure.

"So what kinda rides do you like?" He asked, giving me a brief glance.

"Saa. . . I don't care."

"C'mon Ayaaaa. You've got to care because I **know** that you don't want to spend all day in Chibi-ville!" He did have a point, the children's' section of the park kindled no flame within me whatsoever. . . Then again neither did the rest of this godforsaken tourist trap.

". . .Roller coasters." All right, so I was somewhat partial to one type of ride. Roller coasters, to me, had always been a more dignified ride. They were menacing and intimidating, **real** men rode the thrill rides. . . It's hard to be menacing on a giant pink pony that goes around and a round, up and down. Not only undignified but nauseating as well.

"All right! I see that we finally have something in common, Aya-koi!. . . So if we hit this one first, then. . ." At this point, I began to drown the baka out. Let him drag me around all day if it made him think that he was making me feel better. . . Actually, after the anger had subsided some, I realized how much Youji genuinely regretted the ordeal, and the sorrow that shown in his eyes was really rather. . . Sweet.

"That sound good to you Aya?"

"Hn?. . . Fine."

Smiling at me as he stood, the older assassin proceeded to grab my wrist so as to drag me off into the maze of lines and people. Somewhere through his talking, I had picked up that there were ten roller coasters, eleven if you dared call that _thing_ in Chibi-ville a roller coaster, and Youji planned to hit them all before lunchtime. Yeah right. Soon though we found ourselves at the back of the line for an overhang-style coaster called Top Gun. To one side there was a four-foot tall cut out of some deranged Pokemon-ish thing that demanded one must be as tall as it to ride.

"Think we fit the height requirement?" I murmured sarcastically.

"What? Didya say something?"

"No. You're hearing things Kudou. . ."

Surprisingly enough the line seemed to move quite quickly. As we got closer to the front, there were signs and disclaimers about all the things that could go wrong if you were debilitated in any manner whatsoever. Trying to find a remedy for the silent boredom, I found myself actually reading the verbose signs. All of them seemed just to repeat one another until one. . .

****

Youji

It's in situations like these that I wish Aya were more of a talker. Don't get me wrong, the aloof thing really works for him. Very sexy, but just standing in line like this was rather droll.

Looking over to my taciturn companion, I noticed something very peculiar. His violet eyes were slightly squinted and a hand was placed firmly over his mouth, with shoulders trembling slightly. "Aya, doshite?" Then as I heard a small snickering sound escape him it occurred to me that Aya was. . . Aya was laughing!

"Gomen, Youji." He softly said stifling a giggle.

The gesture was contagious for quickly my own lips curled up and I felt a small chuckle building in my chest. "What's so funny?"

"It's just that one warning over there." Looking to where his finger gestured I saw a small little plaque.

****

"DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS RIDE RIDERS OF LARGER UPPER DIMENSIONS MAY NOT BE ALLOWED TO BOARD."

Beneath the text was a small silhouette of a female figure with. . . Well, rather **large** _upper dimensions_. (AN: There's a sign like this for the Batman Escape at Magic Mountain! It was so bad!)

"Oh my God," I managed to choke out before surrendering to a large shockwave of laughter. "That is **so** wrong!. . . snicker I can't believe they put that there!"

"I know, it's discriminatory. . . Manx could never ride it."

". . . A-Aya!" If the sign hadn't shocked me, Aya's blatant comment about our dead boss' girlfriend's bust size certainly did! Looking at me, he gave a small sly grin, damn if it wasn't sexy! "Aya no ecchi!" Gently I gave him a small shove. Sighing happily, I made an internal note to thank the aforementioned busty redhead later. This mission was the best thing since sliced bread, probably better. Aya was just so. . . Un-Aya. If I hadn't been in lov---st, LUST, at first I certainly was now!

"Stop acting like you're offended." The glare that I was given was half-hearted but an icy killer had to try.

"Not offended, just surprised. . . Besides, Birman's more likely to be kicked off the ride than Manx."

"Hn, never really paid much attention." I am sure you haven't. Then against, with my little Ayan around to captivate my interest neither had I.

"Me neither. Manx isn't the sassy redhead that I'm interested in."

"Huh-"

"Oh look! The line's moving!"

****

Aya

Collapsing into a park bench, I sighed with relief as I was finally able to get the pressure off my tired feet. It was now nearing five o'clock and we had been on every roller coaster in the park. . . Degradingly I admit that that number **does** include the one in Chibi-ville. A choice few we'd made it on to twice.

"Hnhnhnhnn." The blonde giggled to himself as he looked over his favorite souvenir. Hn, whoever came up with the idea to place hidden cameras along the tracks of the rides was more evil than all of Schwarz and Estet combined. It was degrading and cruel, not to mention overpriced. "Yes! I, Youji Kudou, own the only picture of one, Aya Fujimiya, smiling in the entire universe! This is priceless!"

"Kudou-"

"What? Can't admit that Mr. Icicle-up-Butt can have any fun?"

"I was **not **smiling. . . It was bad lighting," I defended with a growl. Smiling is a perfectly natural thing, I have nothing against it. Occasionally, I even slip one. What I **cannot** stand though is the fact that the picture was taken while we were on the kiddie coaster.

"Sure Aya. Whatever. . ."

Suddenly, our conversation was brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of a child crying softly. Looking over a couple of benches down I noticed a small girl, most likely between four and six, sitting alone and sobbing. Looking around I saw that there were no other adults nearby or anyone that she seemed to be with. Oddly enough, I felt a tug at one of my heartstrings and got up to walk over to her.

****

Youji

"Aya-"

Watching the generally stoic man walk over a squat down, so as to be at eye level with the crying little girl, was fascinating. "Are you lost?" He asked her in an oddly gentle voice.

"I can't find my daddyyyy!" She wailed throwing herself against his chest and sobbing. So much for children not talking to strangers.

It took a while but he eventually managed to coax enough information out of the chibi to help her. The look of concern in his eyes as he smiled softly at her. . . "Let's go to the front office, all right?" That look. .. It was so adorable!. . . Man, and I thought that women were supposed to be the ones attracted to paternal guys. But my smile was uncontrollable, this side of Aya was far cuter than the embarrassed side any day! Before I'd known that both Ken and Omi were fairly good at handling children, but I'd never really considered Aya to fit that description. . Hm, guess I'm the only non-family type.

Taking the girl's hand, he began to lead her back to the front of the park where the _lost-and-found-for-people_ was located. "Are you coming Shuichi?" he asked looking back at me, all right, back to the _pet names_.

"Of course Yuki-koi."


	10. Chapter 9

****

Chapter 9

****

Aya

Sighing I looked at my watch; we'd been here for half an hour! Really though I had no right to complain seeing as it had been my choice to stay until the girl's father came to claim her. The clang of a bell drew my attention up as the door to the little office was opened. A man of about forty or so entered looking about frantically. "Kagami?"

"Daddy!" The little girl whom Youji and I had found came running from her coloring book to throw herself into her father's arms. Honestly, it was rather touching to me, having always had a softer spot for children. I've always felt the need to have someone to protect and lavish upon, that person used to be my sister. Now with the void vacant though, grumpiness came in to fill it without even bothering to submit an application.

Picking the slight girl up in his arms, the man walked over towards us. "Thank you so much! We were in line one moment and in the next. . . Shuichi?" Huh? The man had finally noticed Youji and apparently, he knew him.

"Oh Seiko, I didn't know you were coming here today!" Now I was really confused. "Yuki-koi, this is Seiko he works at the hotel. We met in the front lobby this morning."

"How do you do?"

"Much better now." Shaking the man's hand I mentally noted: suspect number three. "I didn't know that we were coming here either but when I found out that I could get the day off I decided to take advantage of it by going out with my kids. Since the divorce I don't get many chances to have them." Kid_s_? Looking behind him, I noticed that there was another child, well teenager. She was probably about Omi's age and she looked disinterested.

There was something not right about this man; the situation was too coincidental to actually be coincidence.

****

Youji

"Well I hope you guys enjoy your day off!" I smiled at them. That Seiko guy was the one who had recommended the place, and I was rather glad because otherwise it probably would've been something touristier, like a shuttle bus tour of Kyoto. I shudder at the thought.

"You too, thanks again!" With that, the happy family was off and Aya and I were free to go back out into the park. Ah, despite the disruption the day had been going amazingly well. Not only had I gotten to go on nearly a dozen great roller coasters, but got a beautiful picture of Aya smiling like a little kid as well!

"So what now koi?" I inquired as we walked out of the little office.

"Dinner," he answered a little too quickly. . . Then again, I couldn't blame him as I realized that he probably hadn't had anything to eat all day.

"All righty, something overpriced or something deep fried?"

"Aren't they the same around here?"

"True, true. The difference being that the overpriced ones don't come with a stick shoved in 'em. . . I noticed a pizza place over near that one wooden coaster, that sound good to you?"

Softly he mumbled with a shake of his head: "I don't care for pizza."

"Nani?!?!" The crème de la junk food, the staple of every man-in-his-twenties' diet and Aya didn't like it?! "How can you **not** like pizza?!"

"Just the concept of it is disgusting. Liquefied tomatoes put onto some bread, with a cover made from the fungus of a cow byproduct." Eeew, when put that way pizza did sound rather unappetizing.

"Okay, then what do you want?"

"Anything but pizza."

"Aya!" I growled. "You're being so difficult. I like all of the food around here so just pick!"

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced suspiciously at me. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah."

****

Aya

Fighting back drool and a grin, I took the obnoxiously large banana split from the waitress along with two spoons. Having been raised in a family of firm believers in desert before/instead of dinner, I felt the need to carry on their tradition. Mmm, four kinds of ice cream, three syrups, whipped topping, nuts, generous banana slices and a maraschino cherry.

Sighing as I approached our table Youji shook his head with a grin. "Aya, that metabolism of yours is gonna kick out one of these days and you'll be using sumo on your opponents instead of a katana."

"Shut-up," I threatened half-heartedly as I took a seat, handing one of two spoons over as I did so. "This is a balanced meal. The nuts are protein, cherries and bananas are fruits, ice cream is dairy, and the waffle bowl is the grain."

"And everything else is artery-clogging-go-straight-to-your-ass lard," his complaint wasn't very believable as he took a large bite of strawberry ice cream, slathered in hot fudge.

"Get over it, you sound like a woman," I murmured as I licked some of the sticky syrup off my fingers. Looking up at me the blonde had an odd expression on his face. "What?" As I questioned I popped the sickeningly sweet cherry into my mouth.

"N-nothing!" The answer was obviously forced as he averted his gaze. Okay, Youji was acting weird tonight.

"Really?" I asked as I pulled an ice cream covered banana half out of the bowl and tool a bite out of the end. It was obvious that he didn't really care for the fruit part of our meal, as he'd pushed the banana and cherries from his side to mine, so I figured that I'd let him have more of the ice cream.

"Aya. . . Could you not do that?" Huh? What the hell was the blonde talking about?

"Do what?" Okay so I had double dipped the banana into the toppings, big deal. Seeing as we had shared plenty of saliva already, I didn't see any point in trying to avoid potential double-dip germs. Shaking my head in confusion I took another bite, at which the blonde's expression became even more. . . Odd.

****

Youji

My God, does he eat like a porn star on purpose?! The way that he was licking the chocolate off the banana, mixed with a small smudge of whipped cream on his face was just unbearably erotic. How could he **not** realize what he was doing?!

"Aya you're eating that sundae like you're making love to it!"

"Hn?" The redhead's eyes went wide and a slight tint made it to his cheeks. Okay, so maybe he hadn't realized it. Nevertheless, my pants were tight enough already, without staring at the hotness that was Aya as he innocently at ice cream.

"Well. . . Uh, there's a spot of whipped cream on your face." The truth but not the whole truth. . . So help me God.

"Oh," feeling dumb, most likely, Aya quickly wiped his cheek. "Better?"

"Yeah," I smiled then looked away. Watching Aya eat was better that pornography, but like porn, it wasn't something that I cared to indulge in publicly.

__

Dinner, however, did end eventually. The dish was spotlessly clean when we were through, about a quarter of it my doing. The question of the evening, where **does** he put it?

When we were finished, the time was near seven thirty and the sky was already beginning to dim to a warm purple with pink swirls slap dashed about. Sunset was a beautiful time of day. The perfect time of day for one certain ride. . .

"Aya wanna go on some more rides before we leave?"

Shaking his head, he politely declined. "I ate too much."

"I could've told you that. But c'mon, what if it's a really mild ride?"

"Youji," twin violet orbs made the quick transition into shi-ne glare mode.

"Just one?!" I asked smiling. If he refused the puppy dog eyes would just have to be brought into play.

". . . What ride?" Score!

****

Aya

Looking at the line, I sighed. The ferries wheel? "Youji this is an awfully long line for a rather lame ride."

"Please Aya! We can go back after this, I promise!"

Conceding with a nod, I shifted my weight to my other foot. No matter how good of shape you're in, it is impossible to not utterly slaughter your feet when touring. All of the damned walking. . .

Tiredly I counted the number of people in front of us, truthfully, it wasn't that long of a line, but surely it would be very slow moving. As I spaced out, I began to feel my lids grow heavy and they would close for a second or two, then open halfway before closing again. This day had been more tiresome than I previously would have thought.

"Tired?"

Shaking my head to clear it I looked over at my blonde partner who greeted me with a warm grin.

"Just a little," I affirmed.

Giving a small snicker, I felt his arm come around my shoulders, pulling me to lean against him. Despite a faint boniness, his shoulder was warm and inviting so naturally I leaned against him.

"Did I ever tell you're that you're kawaii?" The snicker that passed his lips was not altogether degrading, but I still didn't care much for the sentiment.

"I'm not cute."

"Yes you are."

"Am not," I murmured tiredly against his arm.

Chanting a tease he sang, "kawaii, kawaii, kawaiiii!"

"Baka."

"Kawaii koneko." Oh dear God.

"Kawaii baka."

"Really?!" He asked at my mumbling. "You think that I'm cute?"

"Not kawaii, kouai. You're a scary idiot."

"Suuure Aya. . . Oh look the lines moving!" Pulling away from Youji, we began to shuffle forward behind the crowd. The thing about ferries wheels is that the lines only move about once every five minutes but they always seem to have a lot of people board.

Surprisingly, I realized as we made our way towards the front, we would be able to get on this go round. As two teenagers exited their little cart, we were ushered on. When he thought I wasn't looking, I saw the _kawaii baka_ saying something to the carnie. What was he up to?

****

Youji

Hee, success.

Sitting down and pulling the latch bar over, we were soon set into motion. Slowly the large circle made its rounds, showing you the park, then taking the view away, again and again. The two of us were silent but my little redhead was cuddled, well more so leaning than cuddling but a man can dream, against me with my chin propped on his head. The minutes went by slowly as I lost myself in idle thought, but then I felt the ride slowing then come to a stop. Hmm.

"Oh look Aya; we're stopped at the top." Thank you mister two teeth!

"What a _coincidence_" he murmured. Hn, I had thought that he didn't know. Oh well, the fact that he didn't sound too particularly pissed was very encouraging.

"God, just look at the view." The city was all lit up and the stars were brighter than usual in the now nighttime sky. The moment was more romantic than anything I'd ever managed to pull off with one of my one-night exploits. . . Albeit a tad on the cheesy side, but I don't think that it's possible to even delve into the field of romance without the cliché factor.

"It is pretty," Aya agreed quietly.

"So are you having a good time?"

". . . Surprisingly, yes."

"That's good." Shifting so that I was sort of facing him, I placed my hand upon Aya's cold cheek; gently I stroked his soft skin with a small smile.

"What?" His tone was neither cold nor rude. . . Oddly.

"I meant it when I said that you were kawaii," and I had too. Gods, I'd always found him mysteriously beautiful before, and maybe a little handsome. . . However, I'd never seen a cute side, until now. Now it wasn't just his looks either, but his personality. In two days, I'd learned more than I'd learned in two years. This wasn't just an aesthetic appreciation or a lustful need anymore. It was deeper than that. . .

"Hmph," his eyes broke contact with mine as they rolled.

"Seriously!" My words were insistent and my staring gaze was begging him to believe me. For once, I just wished that Aya could see how I felt and know that without a doubt I was for real.

With a sigh, his eyelids lowered and he leaned his forehead against mine, as if he were frustrated. "I can see how you get all of the women; you really are very charming at times."

"Thank you, but I don't really care for anymore meaningless relationships-" Abruptly our moment was ended as the ride was set in motion once more. Dammit, I had originally wanted to use the stopping point for a make out session but it had been turning into a love confession. . . Why did all of my dramatic things always get ruined? Hn, sometimes I think that my luck is even worse than Aya's!

****

Aya

Quickly we were making our way out of the park, trying to beat the crowd before closing time came in an hour. My mind was a blank as I forced myself not to think into the blonde's words. A long time ago, I learned the hard way that thinking too much into things causes nothing but pain and hopeless misconceptions.

With a sigh of relief I noted that the main gate was up ahead, right now I just wanted to go back to the Hoshiko hotel and collapse. This was the most tiring mission ever and we hadn't even killed anyone yet!

Grabbing my wrist abruptly, Youji stopped me. "Wait a second."

"What is it now?" I growled tiredly in response.

"Wait here, I'll be right back!" Before I could respond, the blonde took off, leaving me near a tree. Damn that bastard, I frowned internally. If he wasn't back within five minutes, I'd be very angry; my feet were killing me and there wasn't anywhere to sit.

Also, being alone meant that my mind would think against my will. _I don't really care for anymore meaningless relationships-_ So Kudou had found the one that he wanted, meaning that I had no chance. Perhaps I could stand him being with someone else, and being in love. . . What I could not stand, though, was him leading me on. Occasional flirting was all right, it was just his nature, but this constant hitting on me was building up false hopes. It was. . . It was heartbreaki-

"Back!" Looking up from my train of thought, I realized that he'd returned in record time.

"What did you run off for?"

"Well a promise is a promise," he drawled with a smile as he pulled an obscenely large sucker out from behind his back.

"Y-Youji." I couldn't fight smile that curled my lips as my head shook slightly with amusement. Previously I'd thought that he'd been joking. "Arigatou."

"Anytime."


	11. Chapter 10

****

Chapter 10

****

Youji

By the time we both got out to the car we were freezing our asses off. Right about now I wished that we'd taken Aya's Porsche as opposed to Seven. At least the Porsche had a roof!

"Hurry up and unlock the damn door!" Aya growled between violent shivers.

"Aya, it's a _convertible_."

"Then why the hell did you lock it?!" Okay, good point. Why **did** I lock it?

"To keep-" Suddenly what was escalating into an argument was disrupted by a bright shock of colors bursting into the sky. I had forgotten that there was a fireworks show. First the bright little dot followed by a thin stream would speed up into the air and as it hit its apex, it would burst with a crackle into a red flower, pretty for a moment then leaving the smoky, spider like smoke streams in its wake. Others would soon follow, silent golden showers and loud screaming blue flames.

"It's been years since I've seen fireworks," Aya was the first to softly comment as be both climbed into the car, yet I made no move to turn it on. "Which kind do you like best?" His question surprised me, Aya never seemed the type to care, much less have favorites of any sort. . . I had no idea which ones were my favorite.

"Hmm. . . I kind of like the purple ones. Icy purple yet you know that it's really burning fire." My God that was the worst line I'd ever used in my entire life, I realized, as I looked into his eyes.

"Hn, the purple ones are the hardest to make you know."

"Unlike the green ones, they're pretty easy to get," I murmured not sure as to whether our conversation had a deeper meaning at this point or not. Sometimes it was difficult to determine the difference when speaking with Aya. We could be talking about us as people, the fireworks metaphors for our eyes. . . Or we could just be talking about pretty little rockets, who the hell knew anymore?

"Yeah but I still like them the best. . ." Looking at me, I could've sworn that I'd seen a small shy smile grace his features. "I like the golden ones too, the ones that go up then fall down slowly, just long and shining. . ." My god if this was actually about fireworks I'd die! Aya was actually hitting on me! Wow. That's. . . Weird.

With a grin I retorted. "I like the shocking explosions of red," my point was driven home by me fingering one of his little ear tendrils.

"Youji-"

"Everyone always says that you're like ice Aya, but really I think that you're more like fire. . . A fire work, just beautiful. Only everyone's afraid of getting burned."

A small shock factor caused his pupils to dilate and I could tell that he was fighting the emotions that were trying to play upon his features. "Are you afraid of being burned Youji?"

"No. . ." Caressing his cheek I leaned in more closely to the redhead. "I used to be, but now I welcome it. . . What about you?" If anything came to interrupt this moment it'd die in seconds flat. Finally I was getting through to the surprisingly dense redhead. Always I'd known him to be more perceptive then most when it came to others emotions, why was it that he'd seen past mine for so long?

". . .Drowning. . . You're like water. You look calm on the surface but below you're hiding waves of emotions. I- Someone, could drown in you."

"Does that scare you Aya?" As we'd been speaking our faces were being magnetically drawn in together. I could feel breath leaving his lips and passing in through my nostrils. The air around us was steamy and beneath my fingertips on his cheek I could feel Aya tremble.

"Isn't it rational to be afraid to drown?"

Closing the gap between us our lips met moistly. His were cold, as were my own, but his seeking tongue was hot. The warmth of his mouth was very inviting out in the cold night air. Reaching across the bench seat I drew him close into me, warming him with my body.

After a few moments of gentle, unhurried kissing Aya drew his lips away from mine, leaving them cold and wanting more. "I think that we should go someplace warmer."

"Yeah," I agreed with a sigh, "it's freezing out here." Giving him one last peck, I moved back over to the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. With a rumble the car started and cold air began to blow through the heater, luckily it was warming up fast. As I pulled out from the spot and began winding through the labyrinth like parking lot, I used one arm to pull Aya in closer to me. With a small sigh of either surprise or relief the redhead gave into the embrace and leaned back against me.

****

Aya

With a fought back smile, I snaked my arm around Youji's slender waist and leaned my face against him. Despite the cold his body felt surprisingly warm. Sighing softly, I let my mind wander away from me as I evaded thoughts of what was to come when we arrived back at the hotel. . . All my life I've always seemed to have a sixth sense, a keen understanding of what's going on around me and being able to understand the feelings of others. Except for, that is, when those feelings involve me. I learned long ago to never assume anything when it comes to other's opinions of you, after doing that for so long it's hard to believe that anyone can feel anything for you at all.

How could he, Youji straight-as-an-arrow, playboy extraordinaire really be interested in me? Not only was I not a woman but I wasn't anything even close to his type either! Youji likes dumb, yet charming girls. He likes girls that are pretty and cute with decent senses of humor. . . I'm not anything like the women that he goes for.

What if this is just something that he needs to get out of his system, a little curiosity left over from his puberty years and this is a cruel experiment in which I am the guinea pig? Was this mission just a convenient excuse?. . . Perhaps he's had sex so many times with so many different people that he's just gotten tired and wants to try something new?. . . Would I be okay with that? After all, this is only a residing, juvenile affection. This is not one of those bittersweet romances from movies that make young girls cry. This is built up sexual tension that needs to be resolved. . .

"We're back lovely." Opening my eyes and looking up I realized that we were, indeed, back at the Hoshiko hotel. Damn, I hadn't realized that I'd dozed off. "Shall we?" Invitingly he offered me his arm. Falling back into character I slipped my own through his as we made our way back to our room. Thankfully we waited until there were other passengers upon the elevator before boarding.

Tension lay thick enough to slice in the air as we walked down the dimly lit hall that lead back to our room. For all decisions there are three deciding factors: heart, body, and mind. Currently my body was saying yes, my mind saying no and my heart was undecided. On one had this could be my first and last opportunity to be with the blonde like this. Flip it around, however, and realize that he's just horny and doesn't give a damn about my feelings.

As we approached the door he fished out one of the card like keys that would grant us access in. Sliding it in the bulky metal lock a green light flashed and the door opened gently. "After you," he offered with a charming catlike grin.

Stepping into the room I decided to ignore my brain for the time being and go with my body, fuck my feelings. It would just admit a weakness if I let my guard down enough to verify that there were, indeed, and feelings at all.

He began to head for the bedroom area but I stopped him. "No. . . Not in front of the camera." Taking his wrist in a gentle grip I forced Youji to follow me into the large bathroom.

"Hn. . . I've always liked bathroom sex Aya-koi. . " Something in his seductive tone as he breathed the word sex caused a shiver to fluctuate throughout my body. Never before had I felt so virginal. . .Then again, it had been a very long time. . .

Hands were soon gripped low on my hips and a leg was between my own. Hot breath tickled my lips for a moment before they were buried beneath another mouth. Compliantly my own arms snaked around his neck. Arching up into the embrace, my lips began to fight back roughly. Brazen and passionate our kissing was almost brutal, but still so good. . .

For a brief moment I felt disoriented as I was lifted to a sitting position upon the marble counter top of the sink. There was a slight nibbling suckle upon the crook of my neck that caused me to moan more loudly that I'd have liked to admit. "Youji. . ."

Strong hands crept up the hemline of my sweater to tease my small nipples, lightly circling with an index finger then, a little more roughly, pinching. My head was light and dizziness came over me. As his lips and tongue laid an onslaught of pleasure to my neck I brought my legs around his hips, drawing the blonde man in closer to me.

Lifting my arms momentarily I allowed him to remove my top. Stopping his ministrations for a moment Youji took in the sight presented before him- the man smiled. "God you're beautiful Aya. . . I never thought of a man as beautiful before but Aya you're simply gorgeous."

Suddenly I felt a great heat in my cheeks as I valiantly fought against the childish grin that was begging me to let it form. Never before had anyone given me such genuine, nor excessive, compliments as Youji had been for the past two days. . . Only two days. Wow, it seemed like it had been an eternity together, I can't believe that it's truly been such a short time.

"Youji," my husky whisper startled me as I drew him back to kiss me once again. The third party, my heart, was beginning to make its decision. . .

When suddenly there was a loud rapping upon the door. "God dammit!" Wow, Youji could be loud when he was horny. Turning back to me he placed a gentle finger upon my parted lips. "Hold that thought koi." Adjusting his pants the blonde made his way to answer the door.

What I heard next shocked me.

****

Youji

"Ken?!" Outside of our hotel door was none other than the bugnuck user himself. Along with him was a short blonde girl with large blue eyes. She was wearing a short pleated skirt and a red sweater, matching clips held back her short hair. Hmm. . . The girl looked awfully familiar. . .

"Omi?" Aya was now coming out of the bathroom as he adjusted his messed up clothing and hair, trying in vain to hide what we'd been up to if the bulges in both of our pants had not yet given us away already.

"Uh guys, I'd like you to meet _Omika_." Omika? Hmph, you think that they could come up with a better name. . . My God though, Omi was in drag, not that it was a first time offense mind you, but never before had he looked so convincing.

"We need to meet with you guys. . . About the mission. Our room is just down the on the third floor 485. . . Meet us down there in a few minutes."

"Ya know you could've called!" I protested angrily. God dammit we'd been interrupted or something had gone wry **every freaking time **that we'd tried to have sex! Why God why?!? Mentally I cursed kami-sama and hoped that that Farfarello guy _would_ indeed make him cry. . . It'd serve him right for sabotaging my love life. (AN: Sodomy hurts god )

Soon we were all gathered down in the chibi and jock's room. Hmph, how come they got to have two separate beds?

"What have you guys learned about the target?" _Omika_ who had now unstuffed _her_ bra asked from her seat upon the bed. . .Someone should tell Omi that it's unbecoming of a young lady to sit like that while wearing a skirt. . . And kitty-chan panties. . .

"Really went for authenticity didn't cha bishounen?" I mocked, pointing towards the free for all open skirt.

"Huh. . ." Looking down he realized that the frilly little underwear were now on display. "Youji-kun!"

I only chuckled in response.

"Honestly though, what have you heard?"

"There are three suspects so far," Aya stoically commented. "One a common employee, a higher up named Ayame Junko, and lastly another employee named Seiko."

"Seiko?" That man couldn't be a suspect. "He can't be the killer!"

"And why not?" Turning towards me the redhead shot daggers of ice in his glare. Man I hate that look now more than ever! After two days of seeing warmth and humanity in the ice block it was awkward to see him acting as his old self. . .

"Because he is gay, that's why he divorced his wife Aya. Why would a gay man go around killing other gay men?"

"He could be lying I suppose, trying to get closer to the victim. . . " Ken offered disinterestedly as he flipped through all of the channels. "Hey look, we get porn!"

"Ken-kun!" Omi's blush was rather adorable.

"At least I'm not the only one," I sighed with a smile. For once the perversion was shared throughout the team.

"Turn that off! We need to discuss the mission."

"Aww, but it's my favorite! _Sin_derella!" I whined jokingly. However my protests did little to serve me for Ken turned the television off rather quickly.

"Alright. There are been two attempts at our lives so far. One was in the elevator shaft, the other was in foodservice. We need to find out who has access to both. It would take a great deal of skill to crash an elevator like that. . ."

Bleh, boring. I tried to fight a yawn but it was a losing battle.

"This target is difficult to get information on. . . Are you sure that you two are acting _queer_ enough?" Ken asked unsurely, trying not to insult our _acting_ abilities.

"Believe me we have!" My god we probably put other gay couples to shame just in the one purple thong incident! How many people got raunchy enough in a public hot tub, while _other people_ were in the room, to actually break clothing?!?!

"All of the other victims have been killed either poisoning or gunshots," Omi informed us. "Perhaps the elevator was genuinely an accident.

Shaking his head Aya denounced that theory. "We can't shake anything off as circumstance."

"But Aya-kun, we can't not have any leads either! If we disregarded the elevator it would be very easy to assume that the target is someone in the room service department." Omi protested.

"Perhaps they staged the elevator incident to take suspicion away from them?"

"Either way you're sitting ducks. . . That's why Manx sent us here after you." Omi informed with a smile. "I don't like having to be a girl though, but if we were both guys we'd be targeted too."

"Gods you guys must be hating this mission. . ." Ken groaned his sympathy.

Without thinking I slipped, "nah, it's actually been kinda fun."

"NANI!?!" Both of the chibis cried in unison. Sparing a glace at Aya, my cuteness radar detected a blush and a small twitch upward at the corners of his lips.

"Yeah, didn't you know that girls dig gay guys?" Teasingly I laughed it off. "Besides we got to go to Great Kyoto! Wanna see a picture of Aya?" Excitedly I withdrew the cute little wallet sized photo from the back of my pocket.

"Don't you dare Kudou!" The redhead's growl had been intended as intimidating but I didn't care. The picture was just too adorable. With tightly shut eyes and a broad, open mouthed smile. . . Aww. . . My God I'm a loser.

Taking the picture from me just as Aya was about to swipe it both Ken and Omi began to giggle like little school girls. "Aya-kun. . . I've never seen you smile like that before."

Retorting with an indignant snort the man just grumbled. "It's the evil of airbrushing. . ."

"Man I wish that I got to go to theme parks on missions. . . It's not fair!"

"Oh hush," I reprimanded Ken. "You get free porn, what more do you want?"

"Youji-kun?!"

"I can't watch it with Omi in the room!" The jock protested.

"Oh don't act so innocent Omi, we all know why you're always on the computer. ." Winking I began to head for the door. "It's late. We can talk about all of this mission crap later."

"Youji I don't like porn!" Wow, he forgot the _kun_ I must be getting to him; I sniggered internally.

"Come along _honey_" I gestured for Aya to come along with me.

"Get the files on all of the hotel employees in the room and food service departments and eliminate any unlikely suspects."

"Aya-kun-"

"It's for the mission."

****

Aya

The trip back to the room was uneventful and silent, both of us kind of at a loss. Earlier it had been hormones or something of that extent. . . but now that things had been cooled off and with the eminentness of the mission fresh in our minds. . . Well the romantic atmosphere had been killed- so to speak.

As we were entering the room once again we shared a moment in the doorway before entering the cameras sights. So much for the VCR switch-a-roo plan. "Aya. . ." Youji started as he brought a hand up to slick back a piece of my unruly crimson hair.

"Let's. . . just go to sleep Youji." Right now I really wasn't in the mood for anything. Not my body, heart, or mind.

"Alright." The tone in his voice gave away his own tiredness as well; it had been a very long day. Entering the main area we did not bother to even turn on the lights, not really needing them. Rustling sounds could be heard as Youji began to disrobe, followed shortly by a thud as his clothes hit the floor. I followed suit, stripping down to only my boxers. Blindly I felt about the bed, luckily it was still unmade which made it easier to crawl under the covers.

With a sigh I forced myself to relax into the cool of the sheets, which was contrasted by the warmth of Youji as he settled in beside me. There was squeaked protest from the bed frame, as he turned to face me and pulled my body against his.

"Gomen Aya." His words were tickling against my neck as he softly whispered his remorse.

"What for?" My own arms encircled his torso. . . I felt so unlike myself. Never before had I been much of a cuddly person, much less with someone that I wasn't even involved with! Had someone told me that I'd fall in lo. . .That'd I'd feel for the bastard before going on this mission and that I'd show him a side that no one had seen in two years. . . Well if someone had told me that I'd have either run them through with my katana or die laughing. . . This was so unlike me, but as my fingers felt the smooth expanse of his back , it scared me that it felt so _right._

"Saa. . . I don't know. . . For the stupid cross dressing chibis showing up and interrupting an intimate moment."

"You mean you're sorry that you didn't get any."

"Well. . Yeah. I really do want you Aya," in assurance of his words the older assassin's lips brushed against my forehead.

"You'd want anything alive and willing," I scoffed. Ah, there's the me that I knew.

"Aya! I mean it. . . I really do care-"

"Just go to sleep Youji." The conversation ended there as I nestled into pocket of his shoulder and did my best to ignore the world around me. Right now I must only think of the mission. Not the growing feelings between Youji and myself, nor my melting exterior and a perverseness in my character that was frightening me. Only the mission. . .


	12. Chapter 11

****

Chapter 11

Youji

Ah, a new day a new grievance. My problem this time? I was fuckin' starving and we had to wait for the chibi and the jock to get up until we could order any food! That way they could _track the killer_. Hmph, right now the killer was starvation! All I'd had to eat recently was a banana split and Aya ate most of that.

"Ayaaa, I'm so hungry I could die!" I drawled lazily. "Can't we just give the two of them a courtesy call?"

"They could track our phone calls; we don't want them to hear anything suspicious."

"Going to their room at eleven o'clock at night yesterday **_wasn't_** suspicious?"

"Hn." Man, why'd they have to come along and ruin my vacation with all of this mission bull?. . . Okay so it really was a mission but we'dve gotten around to it eventually. . . Honest!

Thankfully, there was soon a knock at our door and anxiously I hopped up to answer it. . . Surprisingly though, it was not the evil little pair of romantic mood killers. . .

"Anou. . . We didn't order room service," I corrected the young looking girl who was carrying a large tray with delicious looking pastries and other assorted breakfast items.

"The breakfast is courtesy of the hotel manager, Ayame Junko, on behalf of your unfortunate accident." Her voice was direct and to the point but she never made eye contact, a very prestigious server indeed.

"Uh, thanks then." Taking the tray from her, I closed the door gently.

"Aya."

"What?" Inquiring eyes made there way over to the large tray that I was carrying.

"Do you suppose that this is safe to eat?" As I questioned hopefully I could feel my eyes go wide as I prepared to beg. I was **so** God damn hungry. So hungry I could've eaten one of that Masafumi's genetically engineered crabs. . . Whole!

As he glanced at the food, I could tell that my little Aya was fighting an internal battle as well. Teehee, the Fujimiya junk food gene was kicking in. "We. . . We can't take that sort of risk!"

"But Aya just look at it! This nice, gooey, dripping with frosting, and layers of cinnamon donut just couldn't possibly be poisoned could it? Or what about this one? Oh, look they have Krispy Kremes. . . Mmm. . ."

Internally I snickered; the redheaded assassin looked like a man on death row who was being denied his last meal. Okay, so it was a little cruel to tease him so and I knew that we shouldn't eat the food- but it just smelled so damned delicious!

"Kudou," he growled. "If you don't shut up. So help me. . ."

Luckily, I was saved by another knock at the door. Aya was the one who rushed over to answer it this time.

"Ohayo!" The voice of the chibi, no matter how well disguised, as _Omika_ was very recognizable. "We need you guys to meet us down in our room, we have a plan.

****

Aya

Sitting idly on the corner of one of two double beds I waited for the two younger assassins to explain the mission plans.

"All right," Omi began, a more serious tone taking over his voice for a change, "There are approximately 70 employees in the room service department alone. When corresponding information with the other killings there are 32 who have been working on all of the nights. After doing background checks, we have eliminated seven suspects leaving 25. Of those twenty five ten have registered guns, eight of which are colt pistols, which was the murder weapon in five of the cases."

"So we have eight suspects," Ken summed up Omi's long speech.

"Iya, we have more than that. Who is to say the person owns a registered gun?"

"And why did you eliminate the other seven suspects?" Youji piped in, for having been a former private detective one would have assumed that he'd be more productive in this case. I was partially to blame for that though, I should not have let him become sidetracked.

"Because they were chefs," Omi answered good naturedly, not offended by the doubt of his skills. "The chefs have no idea what's going to whom so they couldn't poison the food just for one specific target.

"This isn't going to get us anywhere," I sighed with irritation. "We need a trap for the killer."

"We're one step ahead of you," Ken grinned, taking pride in the fact that he got to share the credit for what was most likely the Bombay's idea.

"Aya, we want you guys to order room service and then act like you got food poisoning and just stay in your room for a while. Youji, you being concerned for your lover, are going go to the store to buy some medicine or something," Omi paused for a moment, most likely to catch his breath but then continued. "I think that the killer will most likely act if you two are separated and one of you is weakened. You see the majority of the suspects are female and two strong men can be intimidating."

"So what you're saying is leave Aya to be killed?" The anger that laced Youji's generally indifferent purr surprised me.

"It's the only way Youji and we'll be watching him the entire time you know. Also he'll be wearing a bullet proof vest-"

"A lot of good a bullet proof vest will do if they're gonna shoot you in the head!" Despite a generally stoic face, I knew that my features must have been registering shock. Why was Youji acting like some over protective mother?. . . Did he really care that much?. . .

"Well what do you want then?!" Ken spoke up with frustration. "Do you want to be the bait?"

"Yes." The monosyllabic answer was spat in such a manner that most would have expected it to have come from me and not the other way around.

"Youji. . ." My own voice startled me.

"Don't take it personally Aya, but I can handle women better, even vicious homophobic killer women," he winked indifferently but it was obvious, at least it was obvious to me, that he wasn't doing this for my lack of ability.

****

Youji

"Okay, so Youji gets food poisoning and Aya goes to the store," the chibi sighed with frustration. . .

Drowning out the mission plans, I began to ponder why I acted that way. Aya was perfectly capable as an assassin, probably even more than I was. But. . . The thought of him being murdered was too much for me to bear. It was one thing to die on a mission and go out fighting, but just waiting to be killed by some psychopath. . . I could not let him do that. He had to live for his sister! I still didn't know much about her but I could tell that she was an incredibly important person to him and that she was not well. Who would take care of her if he was gone?

Also, I wanted us to both make it out of this alive. Right now, I knew in my heart that what I was feeling for the bratty, icicle man was something that I had not felt since Asuka. I'd been struggling for years to get over that loss and find such a feeling again. Now that I'd found it I'd be damned if that'd be taken away from me. . . Even if the happiness that I had found was with another man, and an assassin at that.

"Youji. . .Youji!"

"What?!" Ken's voice startled me out of a daze.

"We're you paying any attention at all?"

"Uh. . ."

"What I was just saying, Youji," Omi began. "Was that you're going to take some food from our room, so that it's safe you know, and put it with your room service food up there. You'll eat it etc. But first we need to attach a camera to you. . ."

So now Aya and I were back in our room once again, I was now heavier with the weight of a bulletproof vest, a wire, and a small camera all underneath my shirt. Grimly I took another bite of the pastry that Ken and Omi had provided me with, hn, not even close the quality of the food that had been sent up earlier. Hell that food was probably perfectly safe with our luck.

"Hey Yuki," I murmured making sure to use the codenames lest the camera man. . . Or woman as everyone suspected, be an adept lip reader.

"Yeah?" Aya asked looking up at me. Currently we were both on the bed, me lying in a reclined position watching the television (luckily there weren't anymore bad YAOI movies to rent) and Aya was lying down horizontally with his head in my lap. Aww, but we made such an adorable couple. I bet that all of the girls back at the Koneko no Sumi ii would just flat out and die with jealously if they knew. . . Oh wait, we weren't actually a couple. Signing softly I reminded myself to stop thinking like that.

"Shuichi?"

"What?" I looked back down at him.

"You said my name, what is it?" Oh yeah, I'd forgotten.

Leaning down so that my hair would obscure the camera's view, I whispered to him. "How long does food poisoning take to go into effect?"

"Hmm," Pensively he pondered this. "I guess it depends. The digestive system takes about four hours to get to work but I had food poisoning once and it only took about half an hour.

"Really? What did you eat?"

"A birthday cake. . ."

"Hn, some happy birthday."

"It was my sixteenth birthday." How sad! No wonder Aya could be such a grump, bad stuff always seemed to be happening to him! And of all the birthdays that could be ruined. . .

"Did you sue the bakery?"

"Hmph, no." It almost sounded like he had meant to laugh there. ". . My sister made it."

"Man, I've heard about sibling rivalry but that's pretty harsh!" Thank God that I was an only child.

"No, she was really trying. . . It was just undercooked and had something to do with the eggs. . . She was only 14." Okay so his sister was. . . Two years younger, I noted and committed to memory. If there was any one thing that I had learned from being a detective, it was how to develop a good file cabinet in your head for all of those little factoids that could prove to be useful in the future.

"You really love your sister don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question but he regarded it as such anyway.

"Hai." The answer was curt and cold but you could tell by the slight gleam in his eye that he truly meant it.

"What was her name?" I ventured to ask again despite the fact that the first time that I had proposed such a question I was met with silent disapproval.

Wistfully he sighed, as if he were deep in thought. A few moments passed awkwardly between us before he answered. "My sister's name is Aya. . . You probably already knew that it was not my real name. . . Ran."

"Hmm?"

"My name is really Ran."

Before I could help myself, the words slipped out. "Ran-chan! That's so kawaii!" That was such a cuter nickname than Ayan or Assassincicle. Ran-chan. . . I like the sound of that.

"Urusai!"

"But Ran-chan, it's such a cute name!"

"Don't you have an illness to be feigning?" Twin violet orbs narrowed menacingly at me.

"How am I supposed to fake it? Just sit in the bathroom for hours?"

Sighing the redhead brought a hand up to his forehead as though my idiocy pained him. "I knew that I should've been the one to fake sick. . . Y-Shuichi."

"Hai?"

"Why did you want to take my place?"

****

Aya

Now that I had him alone I could reprimand him for being an idiot. If he couldn't act sick than this part of the mission was a failure! It was crucial for him to be ill. . In addition, I really wanted to know just why he cared so damned much. No one else on the team would've taken my place, and until recently I would have figured Youji to be the last person to ever volunteer. . .

"I. . ." He stammered as he desperately tried to come up with an excuse. I knew him too well to assume that he would give me a truthful answer the first time around. "You're a bad actor."

Sitting up from my lying position, I faced my _koibito _and glared daggers at him. "You're lying."

"Aya," he said softly, now that his face was blocked from the camera. . . At least he didn't call me Ran-chan again. If anyone else found out my name so help me God I'd kill him. I don't know why I even told him. . . Actually I do. As shameful as it is to admit it, deep down the reason that I told him is because if we ever did manage to. . . Have sex, which was looking quite doubtful due to all of the interruptions that we'd been suffering, if we did do it. . . I didn't want to hear my sister's name in that situation.

"Aya-" His words grasped my attention once again. "I'm sorry but I guess that I just got sca- I was _worried_ about you I guess."

"Youji. . ." Touched by his words I leaned forward and embraced my older comrade. After chastely holding the hug for a moment, I whispered softly against his ear. "Now I want you to push me away and run to the bathroom with a hand cupped over your mouth."

"Always with the mission," he sighed but one could tell from his tone that he understood that this was business. Softly his lips brushed my neck before he violently shoved me back, vaulted up and ran towards the bathroom.

Doing my best to make an expression filled with both worry and concern I up righted myself and headed over towards the bathroom. Meeting Youji there we both waited a minute or two then headed back over to the bed, him carrying the empty ice bucket _just incase_ and me holding a damp rag for his forehead.

I had to give the man credit. He really did look sweaty and feverish; I don't think that I could have pulled that off. . . Perhaps the paleness but nothing else.

"Shuichi-koi, are you alright?" I sounded like some desperate onna from one of those terrible shoujo mangas that my sister used to be so fond of. . . It disgusted me.

"I'll cough be alright. . . Yuki." However, at the very least I didn't sound as clichéd as Youji currently did.

"Do I need to take you to the doctors?"

"No. . . But if you could get some. . . hack Pepto Bismol that'd be dandy. . ."

"Dandy?" Oops, I didn't mean to be an echo but who the hell says dandy?

"Please Yuki. . ."

"Anything for you koi." Leaning down I kissed his forehead before getting up, grabbing the key and putting on my jacket. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere." With that warning, I made my leave.

****

Youji

Finally my years of learning how to act sick, AKA junior high, were paying off! I had gotten up once again to _vomit_ and come back to lay down, taking note to increase my breathing. Eventually though I decided to succumb to a fake sleep.

As I was actually starting to dose off I heard a knock at the door. Still acting sickly, I _gathered my strength_ and shuffled towards the door. Opening it, I fought back a gasp.

"Omae. . ." Before I knew what was what there was a cloth covering my mouth and nose. Despite best efforts, I eventually inhaled and the chloroform turned the world around me black. . .


	13. Chapter 12

****

Chapter 12

Aya

Chewable or liquid? Personally, I feel like vomiting at just the thought of chewable medicine. Always so disgustingly flavored, and you can depend upon the fact that some will likely be stuck in your teeth so you'll be tasting it all day long!. . . On the other hand, I knew that a great deal of people hated liquid Pepto Bismol more than I hate Takatoris and that's a lot of hate to have just over a medicine. . . Then again, Youji wasn't even sick! . . . So which one?

With a sigh, I shook my head. I did not like this plan. I needed to be out long enough for the killer to act but I still needed to be back in time to save him! I was waiting for Omi and Ken's signal but what if I did not get back in time? Or what if the killer had caught on to _Omika_ and figured the two of them to be even gayer than we were! That was a very probable possibility. . .

With a mental sigh I decided to, as Youji would have put it, _fuck it_ and go back to the hotel room. . . With the medicine of course, I decided to go for the chewable kind. If nothing else, I could be amused by the look on Youji's face as he gnawed upon the nasty pink tablets. . .

The drive was only a few minutes long but it felt like an eternity. Either we had a very slow acting killer or something had happened to Ken and Omi! As I pulled up in front of the hotel, I quickly tossed the keys upon the leather upholstery of the driver's seat, not having enough patience to wait for a valet.

Heading through the lobby and to the elevator I muttered curses to myself as the numbers lit up for every floor that the damned thing stopped at. "Hurry up!" I growled at it."

"What's the rush Yuki?" Turning around I saw Seiko in his hunter green uniform. He had been pushing an empty tray, obviously heading back from doing whatever is it that people of his position do.

"Uhm, Shuichi's sick so I had to go get him some medicine," my faint smile was plastered one with much difficulty.

"He's sick you say? Too much fun at Great Kyoto yesterday?"

"No, he ate something bad." God damned elevator hurry up!

"Food poisoning?!" Passing a glance at the other man, I was perplexed to see a look of knowing horror upon his face. . . He knew something.

"Yeah. .. A new chef or something?" Doing my best to sound casual, I rang the witness for clues.

"N-no, not at all. . . I- I just hate to think that our hotel would make such a terrible mistake-" Seiko's ramblings were interrupted by a ding. "Well the elevators here. I hope that Shuichi gets well soon, take care Yuki." With that, he hurried off at a greater speed than he had originally had come with.

The urge to follow the man and to return to Youji fought viciously with one another but in the end, Youji won out. His welfare was far more important to me than a potential suspect was. It isn't morally right to value one life over another, but it is human. Right now Youji's life was a thousand times more important to me than the lives of other victims, both past and future.

The ride up was slow and uneventful. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears and I could feel my pulse in my fingertips. Anxiety washed over me, expecting him to be gone when I arrived, hoping he wasn't . However, the rational, mission part of me wanted him to have been abducted so that this job could be completed. . .

As soon as the twin silver doors opened once again I was out and running for our room. My unsteady hands were almost incapable of getting the keycard into the slot. Eventually I managed to swipe it and the door was no longer an obstacle.

The room was empty.

****

Youji

As I came to there was a slight ringing in my ears. Groaning I forced my eyes open, but as I was met with a great brightness I closed them again rapidly. Counting to ten I carefully lifted my lids to look at the surrounding area. This room was an empty hall, the kind that large hotels rented out for meetings or weird anime conventions. Without any events going on currently, the room was barren and the white walls were staring at me.

As I tried to stand up, I became aware of the fact that I was tied down to a chair both by my feet and waist. Behind me, my wrists were tied roughly as well. All and all I'd say that it was safe to suffice that I was not going anywhere.

"Don't pull too hard or you'll get a bad rope burn." Looking up I stared into the hateful eyes of the killer. They were lowered upon me with a look as though to say I was the scum of the earth. How could anyone hate people so fully just for liking their own gender?

"Doushite?" I asked with confusion, needless to say I was a little terrified. Perhaps it was the gun in the killer's hand or maybe the fact that I was tied down in an empty room with no one to hear me scream. . .

"Why?" They sneered as though the question were completely preposterous and the answer obvious.

"People like you make me sick. Not only is it disgusting and unnatural but you ruin lives!. . . I was once part of a happy family. A mother, a father, two children. . .Things were perfect until a faggot like you showed up!"

"So you're just going to shoot me now because you're home is broken?"

"No. . . I killed the others that way but that's not satisfying." They snickered with a sneer as they told me this. "I'm going to wait for your lover to return. He can watch as I shoot you, over and over. I'm going to make people like you suffer!"

****

Aya

"Why the hell weren't you watching him!" My words were harsh as I shouted at Ken, my firsts were folded in the collar of his shirt as I slammed him up against the wall.

"Aya-kun! Stop!" Omi was pulling at me roughly, urging me to let go. "Calm down!" Hn, easier said than done _Takatori_. How the hell was I supposed to relax when the person that means everything do me is in direct danger of dying? Especially when it could have been prevented, had the two idiots been doing their job properly.

"Aya just listen!" Angrily I let go of Ken, his body sliding to a sitting position upon the floor as he rubbed his, most likely, throbbing head.

"Itai. . ." Siberian murmured for a moment before focusing angry teal eyes back up at me. "Aya! Don't blame us! The killer put Youji on a cart after they knocked him out and everything was dark so we couldn't see where the camera was going! It got jostled around a lot and we were trying to get the picture back when you came in-

"Bingo!" Omi said as the image flickered on the screen of the laptop. The room was white, obviously not a guest room. . . The killer was only visible from the waist down, making identifying them impossible.

"Dammit, how are we supposed to figure out where the hell that is! There are hundreds of rooms here." My voice was growling. However, the fact that the image kept moving ever so slightly up and down assured me that he was still breathing. We had a chance.

"Wait a sec. What's that?" The object on the screen that Ken had been pointing too was a small pink piece of litter in a corner of the room. "Zoom in on that-"

As Omi rapidly slammed his fingers upon the keyboard, the little pink slip came more into focus. Upon the top of the page, there were words that were very difficult to make out.

"Sho. .. Jo. .. C. .. "

"Shoujo-con!" The youngest assassin cried triumphantly. "That room is on the third floor!"

"Let's go!"

With that, the three of us were off and running towards the stairs, we couldn't wait for the elevator.

"Hey Omi," Ken's voice frustrated me. This was not the time to be asking questions.

"Nani?"

"How did you know where the shoujo-con room was?"

"I. .. Uh. . ."

****

Youji

"Hmm, you're koibito still hasn't returned I see. . ." The killer absently murmured as they watched the vacant screen that lead to our bedroom. There were a few similar screens and upon them were scenes of other gay couples. Some were _involved_ others just sitting there, also a few empty screens indicating that the men had left for the evening. . .

"Well if he waits too long I may just have to kill you anyway." Their lips curled into a cruel smile.

Aya. . . I was scarred for both him and myself. He had a long pointy stick, this psycho had a gun! That gun could kill both of us before Aya could even draw his sword. . . I could kill that damned chibi for making such a terrible plan, why weren't they here already?

"You can't kill every gay man in the world you know," I began just saying whatever bullshit came to mind, anything to buy me more time.

"Oh but I can have fun trying."

"You'll never get away with this!"

"There have been twelve deaths here in six separate cases. . . I have yet to be questioned once. I think that you are wrong Shuichi, I can and will get away with this. . ." Suddenly there was a loud crack as a door was being broken in. That that noise was soon followed by the quick footfalls of feet running. . .

All three of the other assassins, fully decked out in their gear. Aya's sword was drawn and gleaming in the bright light of the high wattage bulbs of the room. My God, he looked sexy in mission mode!

****

Aya

"Iya, that is where you are wrong."

"Am I?" Finally, the killer turned to face me and I was shocked at what met my eyes.

"You're. . ."

"Don't move any closer!" The girl screamed at us as she pointed a gun at Youji's head. "If you do your lover dies!" Obviously, she was surprised to see us, especially Ken and _Omika _who, thank God, was dressed like a boy again.

"Youji!" I didn't realize that the cry had been mine until the girl looked at me oddly. I could care less what she or my other two teammates thought now. The man that I loved. . . Yes, somewhere in my frenzied and frightened thoughts I had realized that my feelings were not just wantonness or an infatuation. . . I loved the idiot through and through. If he were to die now, so would I.

"Stop!" She cried as I began to take a step forward.

"Why are you doing this?!" I demanded of her with infuriation. This girl was no more than sixteen, how could someone so young be filled with so much prejudiced hate?

"Hmph. . . It's always the ones you'd least suspect isn't it? You, whoever you really are, were too busy looking at the obvious, so were the police. . . I had a happy life! My father loved my mother! Until one day, when one of you limp wristed fruits came along to tear that all apart! Now he lost his job and works at a fucking hotel. . . . And my mother, she's with some abusive bastard just because she can't support my sister and me! It's all because of people like you!" Tears of rage were streaming down her face as she finally admitted her justification.

"I'm sorry about your family," calmly I forced myself to reason things. Not only because she was a child, albeit a severely in need of mental help child, but she also had a gun pointed towards my beloved's head. "I lost mine too. . . But you can't make a scapegoat for your misfortune."

Slowly I tried to work my way forward, if I could just get that gun pointed away from him.

"No! People like you hurt everyone! If you're not breaking up other people's families, you're ruining your own! My grandfather had a heart attack when he found out!. . . Don't you dare try to justify your disgusting. . ."

"Please put the gun down. . That man isn't even gay." Please God, not Youji. He had taken my place first now I take his.

"My dad wasn't gay to begin with either until the _right man came along_. . . It's obvious that he loves you even if he isn't a faggot." Her words were coming as growls and in her emotional outburst, the gun had been brought back down to her side.

"Youji-kun. . ." I heard Omi's desperate whimper behind me. Both of my teammates were at a loss as well.

Not knowing what else to do I decided to bluff. "Are you kidding? . . That man hates me!. . ."

"You're a terrible liar," she sneered as she brought the gun back up. K'so. . . "Which one of you shall go first," the girl's lips curled upwards as she looked between the two of us. "Well ladies first, and from what I saw that would be you, Yuki, if that even is your real name."

Without warning the gun was turned upon me, so I did the only thing that I could do. . .

****

Youji

"Ayaaaa!" The idiot had run right into the shot, it hit him right over the left side of his chest. . . where his heart was.

Being the skillful man that he was Aya was not knocked off balance but charged the girl before she ever had the chance to cock the gun again.

It was all a blur as Omi came to quickly untie me and Ken ran over to restrain the girl that Aya was currently holding down as she thrashed back and forth violently.

Finally, as the last bonds were loosened from me I rushed over to Aya's collapsed form. The red haired assassin was clutching at where he had been shot, there was a grimace of his face as his breaths were panted.

"Aya!" I called out desperately kneeling beside him. Dear God no!. . .Frantically I began to tear at his jacket to find the wound and to try to stop the bleeding fast. "Aya don't die on me!. . I. .. "

"Youji. . ." He murmured softly. No.

"Aya you just can't!" The last buckles were being undone.

"Youji. . ."

Finally, I had the jacked open and the shirt beneath tugged up. I was shocked at what I found. "Aya. . ." The skin where he'd been his was a deep dark purple and red, very bruised. . . But very un bloody as well.

"Aya?"

Much to my ecstatic surprise, he began to fumble in his jacket pocket and pulled out the deformed piece of metal that had once been a golden engagement ring. He let out a small laugh and a weak smile. "Marry me all over again?"

"Oh God Aya!" I drew him in close to him in a tight embrace trying to hide the tears of joy that I was now crying. I had been so scared. "Aya I lo-"

There was the loud cock of a gun before a familiar voice rang out. "Sorry but I have to end this happy reunion. Drop your weapons!"

****

Aya

"Seiko?" I was not sure whose lips it came from first, Youji's or mine.

"I said drop your weapons!" Youji was unarmed and I had lost my katana somewhere along the line so that only left Ken and Omi. Both of the younger assassins complied, however I was sure that Omi still had darts somewhere on him. As soon as we were all free of weapons, the hotel employee began again.

"I'm sorry about this," he said. "But I can't let my daughter be killed or go to prison. . ." His eyes were tearful and full of guilt. There was also there a father's love, able to forgive any sin. "I am the one to blame. . . If I hadn't broken up our family none of this would have ever happened."

It came back to me then what Youji had said about Seiko being gay and that was why they'd divorced. . . Now the picture was becoming clearer as I recalled the detached look our culprit had had when we saw her at Great Kyoto. . . The last pieces of the puzzle were fitting in.

"Don't blame yourself," Omi tried to assure the man. He had always had a talent for dealing with some of our more out of control cases.

"It's all his fault!" The girl cried viciously from where she was now tired up, we had used the rope from the chair to bound her wrists and ankles together, making her look much like dying fish thrashing upon the floor.

"How long have you been covering up for your daughter's crimes?!" I, however, was not so forgiving.

"I only found out recently when the police came to question me about the murders," he admitted. The criminals who have enough conscience to feel bad for their deeds always feel the need to confess. "She's been helping me with my rounds here, delivering food service orders because I was having trouble keeping up. . . I didn't know that she'd been poisoning some of them!"

"What about the elevator?!" Youji was the one to ask that as he stood up, Seiko's gun following his every move. "A little girl wouldn't know how to do that."

"That was my doing. . . Before working here, I was a mechanical engineer. . . I wanted to throw people off my daughter's trail. . . I'm so sorry."

"By helping your daughter you are just as guilty as she." My words were ice and laced with rage.

"I'm so sorry. . I'm a failure. . . Forgive me!" With the full weight of his sins dawning upon him, the man collapsed to his knees, dropping the gun and began to weep.

Moving swiftly Youji got the gun away from him. Seiko was like a rag doll, lifeless and limp as we bound him. . .

Looking over at Youji I nodded. "Mission complete."

****

Youji

  
  
There, the last of our bags had been dragged down, where were the speedy bellhops now? Deciding not to stay another night the four of us were checking out. Well just Aya and me, the other two had left sooner but well. . . I'm slow.

Taking Aya's keycard and fishing my own out from my pocket, I strolled up the main desk to check out.

"How was your stay Mr. Fujudou?" The same old man that had checked us in asked as he ran the cards back into the computer.

"It was a blissful get away for me and my love muffin," I grinned as I affectionately patted my little redhead's butt. Hmm, one would never stop to think that Mr. Stoic himself could manage some of the cutest facial expressions when embarrassed. Right now the look was anger as his eyes lowered at me and lips pursed, the only thing that gave him away was the flattering splash of pink upon his cheeks.

"If that's all we will be leaving. . ." Aya muttered as we both turned to walk away.

"Wait a moment; you forgot to pay the bill!" The man was good-natured despite the fact that it looked like we were trying to foot the check off on someone else.

"No, our stay here was free. Ayame Junko said so, because of our terrible accident with the elevator," I tried to clear the problem up quickly. Right about now I was tired of this hotel and even more tired of this mission. Having come to terms with my love for Aya I wanted to set things straight and I couldn't really do that until we were alone.

"Yes, that is correct." The little male Momoe nodded affirmatively. "However your stay does **not** include the many movies you rented. Your total comes to. . ."

****

Aya

Upon hearing the large figure that the man stated I began to feel as though I were in shock. There had to be an extra digit in there somewhere, perhaps they forgot to put in the decimal separating bills from change. "Are you sure that's right?"

"Yes sir, it is."

"My God how much porn did you rent?!?!" I could care less who was starring at us in the lobby as I yelled at my now _ex-husband_. It wasn't _that_ expensive to rent one of the movies. I am sure Kritiker would not be pleased to hear about this, most likely, it would be pulled from our paychecks and I couldn't afford to waste money on the idiot's curiosity.

"Anou. . . Um, Yuki I forgot my card. . . "He opened an empty leather wallet from which a little white bug flew out. No card and no. . . "And I spent all of my cash at Great Kyoto. Do you think that you could cover me?" With great embarrassment, he tried to grin charmingly. Youji!. . .

****

Youji

"You owe me." Ah, the sound of my lovely's voice once again, those were the first words that he had spoken to me ever since our departure from the hotel. I guess that I deserved it but c'mon, I **had** promised to reimburse him in full.

"I'm sorry Aya! I will pay you back, I promise! I just didn't have the money with me. . ."

"It's not the money." His lips pursed further until it looked like he had just sucked a lemon. My God but Aya could be prissy. . . Then again, it was kind of kawaii.

"Huh?" Well Mr. Scrooge didn't care about the money. "Then exactly what the hell is your problem?!"

"Tch." His gaze fixated me with the shi-ne glare for a moment before rolling his eyes. "I can't believe I had to pay that much for your stupid porn."

"Aya, no one would've known that it was porn until you blurted it out."

Needing to have the last word he merely scoffed, "It's the principal not the purpose," before turning back to the window and leaving me in silence once again.

"Hn. . . Baka." I muttered before choosing to ignore my traveling companion for the time being, he was not fun when he was acting like this. . . I suppose that the car is not the best place for resolving feelings anyway. If I really got into telling him how I felt we'd probably end up having a wreck and I have a sneaking suspicion that the redhead wouldn't been too keen on that. . . Call it a hunch.

"Hey Aya. . ." I began, deciding to try to apologize. In a relationship with two stubborn men, you would not get anywhere unless one was willing to take his lumps and pretend to be wrong. . . I say pretend because I know that I'm right. Aya just won't ever comply with me.

"Aya?" I ventured again when I got not so much as a 'hn' in response. Looking over I noticed that he was sleeping soundly; his forehead leaned against the window, leaving a little smudge. Aww, my little lover was so kawaii. Besides the tension was less when he was unconscious, thank God.


	14. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

Aya

I didn't wake up until we were just pulling around the block to the Koneko. Hn, I had not expected to sleep nearly **that** long.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." That only earned the blonde a glare, I was sure that I didn't look anything near beautiful, I never do right after waking up. . . I've heard ridiculous accounts of how people's lovers are so beautiful in the morning, that they're the most wonderful thing in the world to wake up to. . . What a load of bull. No one looks good right after waking up, especially in the morning.

As he pulled up and parked behind the flower shop, I got out of the car and stretched my stiff muscles. I hate it when I fall asleep in weird places; you wake up feeling like crap with a stiff neck and aching back.

"Glad that the missions over?" Looking across the hood of Youji's hideous car, I saw an odd expression in his green eyes. Something that I could not place.

"Hn," I murmured a neutral answer before grabbing my bags and heading up the stairs that lead to the apartment. I would not be such a fool as to make any move on Youji. He would initiate anything that was to happen now that the mission had passed. . . I couldn't stand the humiliation and heartbreak that would come if my growing assumptions of his feelings for me proved to be incorrect.

**__**

Later that night. . . I am a lazy author. ;)

****

Youji

Gathering my resolve I decided that if I was going to take action the time to do so was now, while both of out feelings were still strong and fresh in our minds. I loved Aya and I was certain that he had to feel something for me, perhaps not love but he surely felt _something_! Even Aya wasn't that good of an actor.

Taking in a deep breath, I threw caution to the wind and stepped out into the hall. Two doors away, after the chibi's room and a linen closet, lay my future. Either my heart would be broken again, as it had been the last time I'd been dumb enough to fall in love, or my killing career could become much more enjoyable. . .

One door passed, one more until I got there. Mentally I cursed myself out for being so virginal about this but there was more than physicality at stake here. There was something that I hadn't put into any relationship for over two years, the thing that made sex complete and worthwhile. Love.

My toes squished the soft carpet as I walked down the hall. . . Just there, when a creak came in the floorboards.

****

Aya

"Youji-kun?" I heard the tired voice of the youngest assassin outside my bedroom door.

"Uh. . . Hey chibi!" The cheerfulness in which Youji's answer was delivered was too forced, I could tell. I had heard him coming down the hall long before Omi had.

"What are you doing?" He paused for what sounded like a yawn. "It's late."

"Well I. . Uh. I was taking Aya's toothbrush back to the bathroom; somehow it got in my bag by mistake." Nani? What the hell was he up to? I had my toothbrush in my own bag thank you very much, and if Youji even thought for a moment that Omi would believe that I had gone to bed without brushing my teeth then he was an idiot.

"Demo, Youji-kun, the bathroom is at the other end of the hall."

"Oh. . . So it is. . . Well I, uh, guess that I was gone for so long that I forgot. Thanks for telling me. G'night bishounen." I heard the older man's steps growing fainter as he made his way back down the hall, this sound was accompanied by some mumble from Bombay and the shutting of a door.

What had Youji really wanted?. . . After waiting for a moment or two, I decided that I needed to know. Getting up quietly I left my room in silence, my steps were much lighter than Youji's. In addition, I did not turn the hall light on as he had, which probably was what gave him away, as the light flooded beneath door cracks and through vents.

Most likely, the topic upon the blonde's mind was the same one that had been plaguing mine for what seemed forever but was, in reality, only a few days. Where was this relationship going? Was he coming to my room to inform me that a mission was just a mission and nothing more- That I should not get my conceptions misconstrued? On the other hand, by some odd twist of fate did Youji want to continue this odd little affair?

Yeah right.

My knock was soft; hopefully neither of the younger Weißs had heard it. I guess that he had been waiting near the door for very quickly it was opened.

"H-hey Aya," his smile was a little nervous but I could tell that it was sincere. Without further discussion, I entered the room, gently closing the door behind me. "So. . . What brings you here?"

Curtly I replied. "I was looking for my toothbrush." Always to the point.

I could see him stiffen visibly before taking a seat upon his unmade bed. "Oh. . . That. You see we need to talk."

"I'm listening," I replied softly sitting down beside him, as he had gestured for me to do so.

"Well. . . About the mission. . . Aya- I. . . Oh fuck it!" With that, I was greatly surprised, but not unpleasantly so, as he drew me up against him and began to devour my lips in a rough, passionate, and sadly ephemeral kiss.

****

Youji

A few moments into the kiss, I was greatly disheartened to feel his hands against my chest, pushing me back. Never having been a person to force people into sex (well… Except for that morning in the hotel but I'm trying to put that blemish on the record behind me) I drew back and smiled weakly in an attempt to keep the hurt from my features. "Sorry Aya, I just didn't know if I'd ever get another chance to do that. . ."

What he said next shocked me. "You can have plenty. . . Just not when my chest hurts so bad."

"Nani?"

With a frustrated sigh, he shook his head and lifted his nightshirt off. I was upset to see what had been a mere bruise earlier was quite the hematoma. Most of his entire left pectoral was swollen and purple. That bullet had done much more damage than I had thought.

"Oh God, Aya, I'm sorry."

"It could have been worse," he smirked cynically. The ring, yes, if it had not been there my cold love would most likely be much, much colder. . . I couldn't stand the thought. . . That horrible, too small golden ring had been so uncomfortable all week but now that it was gone, my hand felt awkward. Naked and incomplete almost.

"Hey," I said realizing something. "I've got something that can make that feel better." Getting up I went over to a set of drawers and began to dig around, searching for. . . Ah, there it was.

"An ace bandage?" He cocked a crimson eyebrow at me.

"Don't knock it till you try it!" Walking back over to him, I tried to get him to raise his arms. "C'mon, don't be so stubborn!" I scolded when he refused.

"Youji I don't have a sprained ankle!" Aya growled at me as he fought to keep me and the ace bandage of doom away and at the same time put his shirt back on.

"Please Aya-kun. . ." I gave him my best Omi impression. No one could resist Omi. For a moment, I heard him stifle a snicker at my less than adequate impersonation. With a sigh, not any actual words, he conceded to letting me wrap up the swollen area. The long bandage wrapped firmly around his thin chest three times and I pinned it in the back.

"Better?" I purred against his ear, already knowing the answer when I saw the flush of pain upon his features fade away and his back lost some of its tautness.

". . .Hai. Arigatou." Reluctantly he thanked me with an almost whisper.

"No problem," was my smiled assurance as I scooted a bit closer to him on the bed.

"Just out of curiosity. . . Why do you keep an ace bandage in your room?"

"Well when you're making love Kudou style it can get rough sometimes," I winked with a grin. Actually, it was because I tended to bruise easily and if wrapped like Aya's they seemed to diminish more quickly.

"Y-Youji," my but did he look like our favorite Omika when he stuttered with embarrassment. . . Actually what I saw in his eyes was more like a small dose of anxious fear than chagrin.

"Aww Aya, I'm teasing." Placing and arm around his midsection I propped my chin upon his bony shoulder. "I'd never be rough with you."

****

Aya

His tender words of assurance surprised me. So had the way he'd gently wrapped my wound and the way that he had kissed me. . . What did he want?

"Youji," I remarked after a few brief, but uncomfortable, moments of silence. "Why. . . Did you kiss me?"

I felt a small exhale of warm air upon my next as he sighed with some emotion that I could not place. "Aishiteru Aya."

"Nani?!" Instinctively I pulled away too look a little frantically into his eyes.

"What? You're expecting a big mushy speech? I could say a million words but only three of them would matter. **I - LOVE - YOU.**"

Never had I been one to give my heart away easily because when you did it was not something that you could just take back. No matter how hard I had been fighting not to waste it upon some blonde assassin, the entire time he had been forcing it away, making it his without ever even knowing it.

"Are. . . Are you sure?"

My weak question only earned me a laugh. "Baka, of course. . . Aya, I never lie to my flings and one night stands. I never pretend to love them. And I would never pretend to love you. This is real."

"But for how long?" I wasn't sure whether I meant how long this would last or for how long he had felt like this. I needed to know everything.

"Since I first saw you. . . I never meant to, Aya, it just happened. . . "Looking up his intense green gaze met mine. "What do you think?"

What **did** I think? "I. . . I feel the same way." Leaning towards him, I placed a soft, lingering kiss upon his moist lips. Drawing away briefly I whispered, "Aishiteru."

****

Both

So. . . We really are in love. . . I had never thought that I could fall for someone like him. So full of problems and heartache. Now though I only want to help him heal and make those problems leave and never return. . . But I'm not so naiveté as to think that I can end this cycle of killing, I have to keep going for my revenge and so does he. . . However, in moments like this it will be nice to pretend that I can.

As I drift off to sleep, I can only think to thank Manx for this mission that I had been dreading so much. Because although it won't last forever, this moment surely is bliss.

****

Owari For the deleted lemon please go to my website, or my livejournal, there are links to both on my profile! Thank you for reading.


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